Jan 15, 2020Regenerative agriculture education firm names new CEO
Regenerative agriculture education and consulting services Understanding Ag, LLC (UA) has announced the appointment of Walter Lynn, Jr. as chief executive officer.
North Dakota grower Gabe Brown, co-founder of the organization, points to UA’s increasing regenerative agriculture work with food giant General Mills and personal hygiene product manufacturer Dr. Bronner’s as indicators of mounting regenerative agriculture consulting demand.
“Due to the rapid growth of UA, we felt it was a prudent strategic move to expeditiously appoint a well-qualified CEO to facilitate our future growth and direction, which will free up the founding partners to work on key projects within the mission and vision of UA,” Brown said. “The move will allow the UA partners to focus on serving our clients, building educational materials, writing and filmmaking, and expanding the reach of the organization’s efforts. The new CEO will focus on critical administrative and fiduciary functions, and develop strategies to expand the impact of regenerative agriculture,” he said.
Brown, along with Ray Archuleta, Shane New and Allen Williams, Ph.D., co-founded UA in January 2019. In addition to serving as on-farm consultants, Soil Health Academy instructors and speakers, the four will form UA’s new board of directors.
Lynn brings a decades-long portfolio of experience working with NGOs, businesses and industry leaders involved in all facets of production agriculture, agribusiness and conservation to his new position. He currently serves as chairperson of Holistic Management International and sees his new position with UA as an opportunity to significantly increase adoption of regenerative agriculture throughout the nation and beyond.
“The current primary adoption constraint for regenerative agriculture is education,” Lynn said. “Because Understanding Ag is the world leader in helping ag producers understand and successfully apply soil health-improving practices on their farms and ranches, I’m looking forward to my new role in scaling up and amplifying the reach of this important education and consulting work.”
In addition to his business leadership credentials, Brown said Lynn is also an active farm landlord in Illinois. “Mr. Lynn is a tireless advocate for regenerative agriculture,” he said. “His knowledge, expertise, passion and vision make him the perfect candidate to lead UA into the future.”
