Keynote Speaker Dr. Joe Waddell, PhD
Joe lives in Geneva, New York, with his wife Lucía Vignale. His hobbies include running, watercolor painting, and wildlife photography. Joe completed his B.S. in Biology at Georgia Southern University and his Ph.D. at the University of Central Florida, studying the ecology of electric fish in the Peruvian Amazon. He later worked as a
postdoctoral researcher in the Integrative and Computational Neuroscience Department at the Clemente Estable Biological Research Institute in Montevideo, Uruguay (IIBCE), where he gained experience integrating basic and applied biology – before starting work on the Ruminant Farm Systems model at Cornell University, and currently at Dairy Management Inc.
Scott Bradley is the Director of Career and Technical Education at Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES. He started his career as a business teacher and work-based learning coordinator, then moved into administration as a Jr/Sr High School assistant principal and high school principal.Scott serves as an Associate Zone Rep for the Association of Career and Technical Education Administrators (ACTEA), which is a statewide organization for CTE.
Dan Welch is the Executive Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County. In this role he provides overall leadership for programs and operations locally, while also collaborating with local partners and extension faculty and staff across New York State. Mr. Welch serves on the Cayuga County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, the Cayuga County Water Quality Management Agency, and the Cayuga-Cortland Workforce Development Board. Previously, he was the Business and Succession Planning Coordinator with the NY FarmNet Program and an Extension Associate in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. Mr. Welch is a recipient of the Achievement Award from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. Also, he is a Class 15 Fellow of the Empire State Food and Agricultural Leadership Institute (LEAD NY). He holds a Master of Science in Education in Vocational-Technical Education degree from the State University of New York at Oswego and Bachelor of Technology in Agribusiness degree from the State University of New York at Cobleskill.
Rich Kane, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, VP Human Resources, Cayuga Milk Ingredients- Cayuga Marketing
As a results-driven HR leader with over 25 years of experience spanning the entire spectrum of Human Resources, Rich is deeply committed to driving organizational success through strategic planning, team building, and complex project management. HIs expertise lies in fostering strong rapport with employees and colleagues, enabling him to excel in high-pressure, challenging, and deadline-driven environments. Throughout his career, Rich has held key leadership roles at renowned organizations including Wegmans, Host Marriott, Anoplate, and New York Air Brake. His responsibilities included strategic leadership, compensation, talent acquisition, labor relations, benefits, and more.
Lisa Ford, Members Program Manager, Cayuga Marketing LLC
Lisa joined Cayuga Marketing in 2014 to work on projects such as safety, animal well-being, and milk quality. Lisa found her way to Central New York all the way from Maine, after spending time in Guatemala with the Peace Corps. She, then spent 10 years at Cornell between finalizing her graduate studies, and working for Quality Milk Production Services, providing training and support, in both English and Spanish. Those experiences, plus another four years with Merck Animal Health, prepared her well for her project areas.
Brian Cornell, Owner, Cornell Electrical Solutions
Brian Cornell grew up in Union Springs on a 50-milking cow dairy farm, with a total 100 animals, including young stock. His mother and father taught him numerous aspects of farming; from taking care of animals to welding and repairing equipment out in the field. Cornell attended the 2-year Electrical Program at Union Springs Central school through BOCES and graduated in 2001. While at BOCES, he learned residential wiring and studied motor controls. Cornell holds a Master Electrical License, which he achieved by the time he was 28 years old. He gained experience by working for two local electrical contractors for over 17 years and started his own electrical contracting business, Cornell Electrical Solutions, in 2021. His business has grown to having four employees and has developed an innovative remote tracking system for commodities to improve efficiency on area farms. Cornell lives in Union Springs, NY with his wife and three children.
John Komarisky and his son own Main & Pinckney Inc. They primarily sell and service agricultural equipment and currently employ 18 full time staff. The business has been in the Auburn, NY area since 1963. Bill Pinckney and Elliot Main were the original owners, selling Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment made by the New Holland company of Pennsylvania. The business sells and services machinery that was used to plow and prepare the soil to grow the crops to feed livestock, and harvesters to collect livestock feed. Main and Pinckney Inc. is in the need of people to: Sell Equipment, Service the Equipment, to collect and distribute parts for in shop service, on the road repairs and deliveries, also walk in customers need assistance.
Christine Vieira, Human Resource Manager, Monroe Tractor
Christine is a Human Resources Professional with over 20 years in corporate, global and small business environments. 7 of those years have been in the Construction & Agriculture Heavy Equipment industry. At Monroe Tractor she is responsible for overall leadership & development of the HR department including Benefits, Talent Acquisition & Retention, Employee Training & Development and Employee Relations. She is in the business of people, and one of the best parts of her job is making an impact on individuals who want to succeed in any aspect of their career. Christine enjoys meeting all generations of people who want to solve problems, embrace teamwork, work hard and always do what’s right. If you share those same values, she can’t wait to meet you!
Nathan Wood, Monroe Tractor
Nathan grew up on a small farm in Pennsylvania. In 2013 he graduated high school and started college at SUNY Cobleskill. Nathan received an associate’s degree in Agricultural Engineering Technology: Agricultural Power Machinery in May of 2015 and a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Equipment Technology in May of 2016. It was when Nate started college that he had been introduced to precision farming and began the study of it. When Nate graduated in May of 2016, he started with Monroe Tractor focused in precision agriculture.
John Fessenden is a Senior Loan Officer at Farm Credit East. John was raised on a family dairy farm in Cayuga County. He has a B.S in Dairy Farm Management from Cornell University, and a Class 5 member of LEAD NY. He spent 12 years on his family’s farm before joining Farm Credit in 2002. John services a wide variety of customers in the Finger Lakes region. Outside of work, John is a King Ferry Fire District Commissioner, active in his church, the Southern Cayuga FFA Advisory Board, and a Director of Midstate Mutual Insurance Company in Auburn NY.
Nicholas Graham is a corporate attorney at Scolaro Fetter Grizanti McGough, P.C., within the firm’s Business and Tax and Agricultural Services practice groups. Specializing in corporate law, he focuses on agricultural businesses, startups, and small to mid-sized business mergers and acquisitions (M&A). He earned a JD/MBA with honors from Syracuse University, concentrating on finance and entrepreneurship. Nicholas counsels clients on entity formation, capital raising, corporate governance, business transactions, and succession planning. He frequently assists agricultural clients with governance and succession strategies, ensuring seamless transitions to future generations while meeting their operational needs. Prior to his current role, Nicholas refined his skills at a global law firm in New York City and gained valuable experience at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), strengthening his business and finance expertise.
Jessica Kolodzie, HR Manager, Cayuga Milk Ingredients
Jessica is an experienced HR leader specializing in talent acquisition, employee relations, and workforce development. With a Bachelor’s in Business Management (HR) from St. John Fisher University and a Master’s in Management from Keuka College, she has spent nearly 25 years in various HR positions at manufacturing companies. Her passion for HR began with a support role at a manufacturing company during her high school years, which shaped her professional path. Since then, she has partnered with company leadership to build engaged, high-performing teams that drive operational success and business growth through employee engagement, and development. She joined Cayuga Milk Ingredients as HR Manager, in June 2024, to support the growth and addition of their new plant in Auburn, NY. As an Auburn native, she remains involved in the community, actively contributing to various boards, committees, and events which reflect her dedication to both the HR profession and the Auburn community.
Joel Riehlman, Venture Farms, Cayuga Marketing LLC
For Joel, dairy runs deep. Raised on a small, traditional tie-stall dairy in upstate New York, he was already getting involved in farm life from the age of two. His family’s 80-cow herd was managed primarily by the family, instilling in him a strong work ethic and a deep respect for the industry. With a clear vision for his future, he pursued an agricultural business degree from Cornell and stepped into full-time dairy production in 1991. By 1995, he had purchased his own cows and transitioned into a freestall facility, growing his herd from 100 to 300 cows over six years.
Abbey Hai, Cayuga County Soil & Water Conservation District
Abbey has been working in conservation for the last 3 years primarily working with Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM). She is the Cayuga SWCD AEM Coordinator and Watershed Conservation Specialist. Abbey graduated in 2023 with a Bachelors in Environmental Science and Psychology.
Matthew Fox, Agronomy Services Team Leader, Agricultural Consulting Services (ACS)
Matt is the Agronomy Services Team Leader for ACS’s Central and Eastern NY/VT teams. His role is to provide guidance to their field technicians, such as daily/weekly schedules, training, equipment maintenance and management, and general communication between technicians, the growers, and their Planner/Consulting teams. Matt is the bridge between what the farms and consultants need from the field and the technicians doing the field work. The Agronomy Services Teams provide soil sampling, crop scouting, tissue testing, field mapping, phosphorus indexing, and carbon sampling just to name a few. Matt graduated from SUNY Cobleskill with a Bachelor of Technology in Plant Science Horticulture in 2019 and has been working for ACS ever since. He started as a technician and in 5 years grew to the position he is now in.
Hannah Maloney, Agronomist, Agricultural Consulting Services
Agricultural Consulting Services, Inc. (ACS) is committed to helping farmers produce the best crops in the most environmentally responsible manner possible. Our team consists of crop consultants who handle the crop side of your business, and environmental planning consultants who handle the CAFO or LFO regulatory side of the business. While our crop consultants are keeping up with the latest in seed varieties, IPM, and yield analysis, our planning consultants are keeping up with the ever changing and dynamic process of CAFO and LFO law. ACS offers soil sampling, field assessment and data collection work through Dairy One Integrated Farming Solution’s Agronomy Service team. An internal technician certification program for all Dairy One agronomy technicians assures that we are getting the very best data at the field level in which to make the most informed decisions for the client. This approach provides our clients with a team of people who are focused on specific aspects of an operation. We feel that with the complexities of modern farming, a team approach provides the best service to our farm clients.
Owen Weikert, Sustainability Manager at Cayuga Marketing and Cayuga Milk Ingredients
Owen’s responsibilities at Cayuga include environmental data collection, farm foot printing, analysis and modeling, R&D collaboration, and supporting sales and marketing efforts with Sustainability attributes in the member milk shed. He grew up on a sheep and cattle farm in Gettysburg, PA where his love for all things cows grew from a very early age. He attended West Virginia University majoring in animal science, and most recently completed a masters program in Sustainable Food Systems from Harvard University. His long term goal is simple- to showcase the power of dairy nutrition accompanied by its minimal nutritional impact to decommodify Cayuga milk products.
Peter Wright, P.E., Cornell University (Retired)
Peter is a recently (1/2025) retired Agricultural Engineer from the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University. Pete assisted the dairy environmental engineering component of Cornell’s PRO-DAIRY program, concentrating on manure management, anaerobic digestion, and environmental practices for farms. His last full-time experience was with the Natural Resources Conservation Service as the NY State Conservation Engineer, in charge of the engineering aspects of conservation (best management) practices with USDA. Pete has a B.S. ’77 and a MEng ’78 degree from Cornell in Agricultural Engineering.
Pete and Erin Konuma, Owners, Silver Tree Forest Farm
Nestled in a high valley in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, Silver Tree Forest Farm is a highly diversified, 6-acre micro farm founded in 2016 by Peter & Erin Konuma. Our mission is to regenerate ecosystems, landscapes, and soils through diverse and profitable farm enterprises that benefit all beings. We focus on producing nutrient-dense food, offering inspiring on-farm experiences and providing affordable access to farmland. Using the tools of permaculture design, regenerative agriculture and holistic management, we cultivate human-scale, ecological production systems including perennial forest gardens, no-till market gardens, poultry silvopasture, useful plant nurseries and mushroom yards. Our products include vegetables, flowers, mushrooms, eggs, herbs, honey, seedlings, fruit trees, berry bushes, and tinctures for sale on farm, online or though our CSA program.
Jason Cuddeback, Cayuga County Soil & Water Conservation Service
Jason has worked at Cayuga SWCD for 20 years. He is a Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) primary working with the Agricultural community on water quality related issues. Over the years he has helped build a very robust Soil Health Program including cover crops, reduced tillage management, nutrient management, and deep tillage at the District. Hason owns a 700 acre cash grain farm in the Town of Niles.
Chef Patrick Leibacher leads the Cayuga’s Culinary Arts Program. Chef Leibacher received classical Culinary training in his native Switzerland graduating from school of chefs in Bern. He spent 10 years working in the Caribbean honing his skills before moving to the North country where he helped open the Harbor Hotel in Clayton as Executive Chef. Before taking the position as Coordinator of the Culinary Artsdepartment he was the Executive Chef at the Krebs in Skaneateles.
Ann LaFave, Assistant Dean of Academic Programs and Student Success at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)
Ann has been in her current role since 2020. Before this role, she served as the Director of CALS Student Services from 2010 and began her career at Cornell in CALS Admissions, where she spent 14 years, including several years as the director. Under Ann’s leadership, the student services and admissions teams provide a premier experience for CALS students from admission to graduation and beyond. They support and collaborate with faculty and staff who engage, teach, mentor, and advise students across numerous majors. Ann focuses on developing and leveraging technology and tools to streamline the student experience, allowing students to concentrate on their studies, research, activities, and experiences rather than administrative tasks. Ultimately, her team ensures that students find success, engage with support networks, and pursue opportunities that align with their career aspirations and future goals.
Dr. Ben Weikert, PhD, SUNY Cobleskill
Dr. Weikert was a champion Pennsylvania 4-H livestock judge and went on to judge for West Virginia University while pursuing a bachelor’s in Animal Science. Ben pursued a master’s degree in Agricultural and Extension Education from Penn State University while working as an Extension Educator in Adams County, PA where his responsibilities included youth and adult livestock education. Ben completed his PhD in Agricultural Education and Leadership from the University of Missouri. Since 2016, Ben has been a faculty member at State University of New York-College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill where he teaches livestock production and agricultural education courses. His scholarly work is focused on agricultural sustainability, experiential learning, and youth leadership and life skill development. Dr. Weikert also serves as the Department Chair for Animal and Natural Sciences at the college and is currently the Program Coordinator for Agriculture and Outreach.
Curtis Veiock, Regional Director, Growing Hope Globally
Curtis is working with Growing Projects in Ohio, Pennsylvania and on the East Coast and helping some new groups to get started. His professional journey has predominantly unfolded on the livestock side, with a focus on dairy and beef cattle nutrition, as well as herd and farm management. Additionally, Curtis brings a background in controlled environment agriculture, where he’s cultivated specialty crops year-round in a greenhouse setting. Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture, specializing in Agricultural Systems Management from The Ohio State University, Curtis remains actively engaged in his local community. He is a proud member of the Ohio Farm Bureau, involved in the county agricultural society, and hold positions in the Farm Science Review/Farm Operations Alumni Society and as a deacon at Connecting Life Church in North Lima, Ohio.
Tricia Kerr, Growing Hope Cayuga President
Tricia is an Auburn native and graduate of SUNY Cayuga Community College with an AS in Science and Math, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry with a BS in Environmental Studies: Policy and Management, and Quantic School of Business and Technology with an EMBA. Tricia works as a Grants Coordinator for East Hill Medical Center, a nonprofit community health center in Auburn, and has held various public and nonprofit service roles in planning, community and economic development over the last 25 years in the Central New York Region. She is the current board president of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County and Auburn Housing Authority Development Corp., a member of the Auburn Rotary Club, and former Cayuga County Legislator (NOP) representing District 12 in the City of Auburn. Tricia resides in Auburn with her husband Fred.
Ed Staehr, Growing Hope Cayuga Vice President
Ed earned bachelor’s and master’s Degrees from Cornell University and worked at Cornell for over 30 years. At Cornell, he eventually held a faculty position responsible for overseeing a program that helps farm families with business, personal issues and farm business continuity to the next generation. In this position, he gained valuable experience working with elected officials in the New York State Senate and Assembly to support new initiatives. He was invited to research farm business apprenticeships and management transfer on farms ranging
in size from 30 to 300 employees, as part of a sabbatical study at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. Ed and his wife Rebecca own and operate Staehr Family Farm, LLC where they grow corn silage, alfalfa and grass hay crop silage, soybeans, wheat and fall produce.