LEAWOOD, Kan. – Agspring announces two additions to its Thresher Artisan Wheat Division based in Blackfoot, Idaho:
Darrin J. Thomas has been named merchandising manager with responsibility for buying and originating grain from producers to merchandise to consumptive customers.
Tyson “TJ” Shawver has been named to the new position of seed salesman, the first time one individual has been designated solely for seed marketing.
“By allocating more resources in Idaho to our seed marketing platform, Agspring is taking advantage of opportunities to grow our Thresher Artisan Wheat seed business and further enhance our customer needs through the wheat genotypes they desire,” said CEO Mark Beemer. Thresher Artisan Wheat is a leader in sustainable wheat sourcing and production through partnerships with seed suppliers, producers and key customers. Partners include operations in elevator storage, handling, grain conditioning and merchandising.
Darrin J. Thomas
Most recently Thomas had beensenior commodity manager since 2015 at Agricultural Commodities in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, where he led the department of commodity procurement, logistics and inventory management. Responsibilities included negotiating and executing commodity trades and sourcing.
From 2013 to 2015 he was commodity merchandiser at Apex LLC, Hamburg, New York, with responsibility for procuring and selling mid-protein commodities such as high-quality distiller grains in the cash market, coordinating transportation arrangements and negotiating freight.
A native of Pennsylvania, Thomas is a graduate ofPennsylvania State University with a degree in business logistics and supply chain management. The first decade of his professional career was spent with companies in Pennsylvania, starting in 2002 as distribution operations manager with Staples North American Delivery in Chambersburg. From 2008 to 2011 he was logistics/procurement specialist with Cargill in Shippensburg, with responsibility for procuring and managing agricultural feed-grain commodities and negotiating truck and rail freight. From 2011 to 2013 he was inventory manager for Pennfield Corp. in Lancaster, where he managed and facilitated procurement of 250,000 tons of product and supply chain activities for four livestock feed manufacturing operations.
Tyson “TJ” Shawver
Before joining Agspring, Shawver had been owner operator since 2017 of TJ Shawver Farms, Pingree, Idaho, operating a range of 350 to 521 acres. Crops included canola seed, large dark red kidney and small pink beans, food (thresher) and malt barley, triticale seed, wheat, peas and soybeans plus Kentucky bluegrass. In addition, he operated a small inhouse seed cleaner and marketed crops, including working to establish a soybean market with state of Idaho certification.
Shawver is a 2014 graduate of Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg with a degree in agronomy, crop and soil science, with an emphasis on soil chemistry, global integrated system analysis research and plant production, physiology and science. After college graduation he served as a fieldman/agronomist from 2014 to 2017 for the CHS Bingham Cooperative in Blackfoot, Idaho. Within a 150-mile radius of Grace-Mud Lake, he conducted extensive agronomic consulting, including coaching farmers on cultural and agronomic best management practices.
About Agspring
Agspring combines entrepreneurial teams, sustainable agriculture supply chains and superior capital partners to feed our changing world. Long-term private capital provides Agspring a platform for capital improvement and expansion. Agspring maintains local operations and puts leadership teams in place who desire to grow into new markets including grains, oilseeds, specialty crops and consumer food ingredients.
For more information on Agspring: www.agspring.com
Agspring is a trademark of Agspring, LLC. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
