Speaker Categories: Advisory Board 2022

Bob Trogele

AMVAC, a subsidiary of American Vanguard Corporation

Bob Trogele, has enjoyed a dynamic year leadership career in Agribusiness, working for “large caps” such as Hoechst, Aventis and Bayer, and “mid-caps” such as Schering and FMC. He has working experience and knowledge in Europe, Asia and the Americas at all levels of Agribusiness crop segments and systems (chemical, nutrient, seed, biologicals and precision agriculture). In addition, he has worked at the country, regional and corporate general management level. Further, Trogele has been a voluntary Adjunct Professor at the Berlin School of Economics & Law, educating Asian European MBA’s as future leaders in global business and society. He is an independent board director of Clean Seeds Capital Group and the Farm Journal Foundation and sits on the board of the Agricultural Retailer Association. 

American Vanguard Corporation 

American Vanguard Corporation is a diversified specialty and agricultural products company focusing on crop protection, turf and ornamental markets, and public health applications. The Company has continued its successful strategy of acquiring or licensing both new and well-established product lines that serve numerous high valued market niches. New product development and international expansion also provide an additional stimulus for growth. Through skillful marketing, diligent product registration, quality manufacturing, American Vanguard has positioned itself to capitalize on developing trends in modern agriculture. American Vanguard will continue to meet the needs of a world demanding ever-increasing quantities of agricultural products for human food, animal feed, natural fibers and alternative fuels.
 
American Vanguard’s subsidiary, AMVAC Chemical Corporation (https://www.amvac.com), develops, manufactures and markets effective agricultural and commercial products for crop protection, non-agricultural and public health applications. AMVAC’s product development capabilities include new product acquisition and/or licensing for U.S. domestic sales and worldwide product distribution. AMVAC operates six manufacturing facilities in the U.S. that provide flexible production of high-quality products with an excellent record of safety and regulatory compliance. AMVAC also maintains a very robust product registration function that has successfully maintained the intellectual property value of the company’s portfolio 

 

 

 

Mike Gomes

Topcon Positioning Group

Gomes has been active in the digital transformation of agriculture for more than 25 years. As Vice President of Strategic Business Development for the Agriculture business unit his responsibilities include working alongside global sales and product management teams to develop business strategy, products and alliances that drive business growth. His personal work experience includes utilizing various sensing technologies; optical, sonic, and positioning toward improving in field efficiency and is a co-inventor on patents for aspects of Auto Steering, Sensors and User Interface. He serves on the Association of Equipment Manufactures (AEM) Ag Sector board, vice chair of the AEM Ag Innovations council and a member of AEM Regulatory and Future of Food councils. He has served as Chair of the VDI’s Connected Off Highway Conference in Germany for 2018-2021.  In 2019, he was selected to the USA’s FCC Federal task force on Connectivity and Technology needs of Precision Agriculture and has received bi-partisan endorsement from both administrations. 

Topcon Positioning Group, headquartered in Livermore, California, designs, manufactures and distributes precise positioning products and solutions for the global surveying, construction, agriculture, civil engineering, BIM, mapping and GIS, asset management and mobile control markets.  Its brands include Topcon, Sokkia, Tierra, Digi-Star, RDS Technology, NORAC and 2LS. Topcon Corporation, founded in 1932, is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. 

 

Darren Goebel

AGCO Corporation (Duluth, Georgia)

Darren Goebel is an agronomist and director of Global Agronomy and Farm Solutions at AGCO Corporation, a position he has held since February of 2018.  He leads AGCO’s agronomy and farm solutions team, a global team of agronomists whose goal is to prove ROI and effectiveness of advanced decision agriculture solutions and existing AGCO machinery on test farms worldwide.  Darren has been a crop consultant and agronomist throughout his career, with work encompassing virtually all crops and geographies. Prior to joining AGCO, Darren held a number of positions with DuPont Pioneer and John Deere.  

AGCO is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural solutions and delivers high-tech solutions for farmers feeding the world through its full line of equipment and related services. AGCO products are sold through five core brands, Challenger®, Fendt®, GSI®, Massey Ferguson® and Valtra®, supported by Fuse® smart farming solutions. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, USA, AGCO had net sales of $9.0 billion in 2019.