Today, June 23, at the closing general session of the American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) Policy and Leadership Development Conference (PLDC), John Latham, outgoing chair of ASTA, and Andy LaVigne, CEO of ASTA, awarded Tim Johnson and John Schoenecker with ASTA Lifetime Honorary Member awards.
Tim Johnson has a long career not only with ASTA, but with seed. From 1976-1993, Johnson worked at AgriPro, where he held various positions ranging from hourly to business manager of corn and soybeans. Prior to his role as president of Illinois Foundation Seeds, Inc., he served as president and chairman of the board of directors for Seed Genetics, Inc.
Since then, Johnson has had a long history of working with ASTA, first by participating in the ASTA CSS planning committee, then later working on the ASTA Board, acting as Central Regional Vice President from 2005-2008. ASTA even nominated Johnson to be on the International Seed Federation’s (ISF) Breeders Committee, where he acted as chair after one year of participating. Since 2006, Johnson has been working with ASTA to improve intellectual property rights for seed in China.
“It’s great to be a part of ASTA,” Johnson says. “I hope all of you take the opportunity to participate and do a great job.
“I want to say thank you to Illinois Foundation Seeds,” he continues. “If you don’t have a company that supports you in doing the things I’ve been doing on behalf of the seed industry, you just don’t get the opportunities that I’ve had to travel around the world.
“I love this business,” he says. “It’s been great to me and it’s been great to my family.”
John Schoenecker has worked at HM.CLAUSE for years are their director of intellectual property. Not only has he had a long career, but his participation in ASTA has been great. He began working with ASTA in 2006 while working in legal and regulatory affairs for Harris Moran.
During that year, one major challenge Schoenecker helped address was an outbreak of E. Coli, where seed sources were being blamed as a cause. As a result, the ASTA Working Group on Emerging Issues was formed.
Since then, Schoenecker became an active member, serving in positions ranging from Western Regional vice president, chair of the Vegetable and Flower Seed Division and even ASTA chair from 2014-2015.
“It’s really our company supporting us that allows us to do this work,” Schoenecker says. “It’s been a passion and an honor for me to work for this industry and service everyone around the world.
“This has been a big part of my career, and it’s been really fulfilling,” he says. “Thank you truly.”
