SPECIAL GUESTS
Krysta Harden
President &Chief ExecutiveOfficer, U.S. Dairy Export Council
As president and CEOof the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), Krysta Harden leverages experiencewith agriculture, sustainability, food policy and the federal government to help fulfill USDEC’s mission topromote dairy exports and enrich thewell-being of people, communities, and the planet.
In February 2021, Harden became the third president and CEOto lead USDEC since its founding by DairyManagement Inc. (DMI) in 1995. She is the first woman to lead the organization. Harden succeeds former USDEC President and CEO Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed in February 2021 as U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Biden-Harris administration. At USDEC, Hardendirects a staff of dairy trade specialists, trade policyprofessionals, a global marketing teamand a strategy and insights team. Inaddition, she oversees eight international offices working to facilitate dairy product and ingredient application knowledge, identify market opportunities, monitor regulatory activity and work toward improving the business climate for U.S. Dairy. Working together and with its member companies, USDEC facilitates dairyproduct and ingredient application, identifies market opportunities, monitors regulatory activity and makes the case that U.S. dairy exports should compete on a level playing field with sound trade policy. In 2020, the U.S. exported more than two million tons of dairy solids – anall-time record. With expanded support from state and regional dairy organizations, USDEC put more people, promotions, and partnerships to work for U.S. dairy producers and processors. A focus on meeting international customer needs helped the industry growand diversify as a supplier of choice in global markets. Hardenplans to be active in global organizations, including the World Economic Forum, Global Child Nutrition Foundation, and the upcoming U.N. World Food Systems Summit. Prior to taking the top spot at USDEC, Harden serveddual roles as USDEC’s chief operating officer and DMI’s executive vice -president of global environmental strategy. DMImanages the dairy checkoff for 34,000 dairy farmers. Hardenhelped develop and launch The Net Zero Initiative, an industry-wide effort that will help U.S. dairy farms of all sizes andgeographies implement new technologies and adopt economically viable practices. The initiative aims to achieve carbon neutrality, optimized water usage and improved water quality by 2050. Before joining DMI, Harden servedas Chief Sustainability Officer with Corteva and DuPont. Harden also spent seven years working with Vilsack at USDA, nearly three of those years as deputy secretary,
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