Dr. Ross Bender is the Director for New Product Development at The Mosaic Company. Ross and his team oversee global Crop Nutrition R&D around new technologies and provide the resources necessary to bring them to market. Ross formerly served as the Sr Agronomist for Eastern North America, where he educated internal and external collaborators on Mosaic Performance Products and balanced crop nutrition. Prior to joining Mosaic, he received a B.S. in Crop Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant Physiology at the University of Illinois. Ross has used his education, research, and farm experience to interactively share cutting-edge plant nutrition knowledge across hundreds of diverse retailer and producer audiences.

Tryston Beyrer is the Crop Nutrition Lead with The Mosaic Company. His role involves educating and training internal and external customers on Mosaic performance products and balanced crop nutrition.

Keith Byerly is the Commercial Sustainability Lead with The Mosaic Company. His role involves collaborating with Mosaic retail customers to understand their sustainability programs and align Mosaic Performance & Soil Health technologies with those needs.

Scott Foxhoven grew up on a family farm in northeast Nebraska, and attended South Dakota State for his bachelors degree and University of Illinois for his PhD specializing in soil fertility and crop nutrition. Since starting with Mosaic’s New Product Development team in May of 2022, Scott leads the North American small-plot field research program as well as the exploration efforts within the precision nutrition initiative.

Anne Runkel and her team of scientists and engineers are dedicated to developing science-based biological solutions for agriculture. Prior to joining Mosaic, Runkel led the Research & Development team for Plant Response, a startup acquired by The Mosaic Company. Runkel started her career in the agricultural biologicals industry as a mode-of-action scientist and then led multiple research teams at Koch Biological Solutions. Runkel received her Ph. D. in plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley, contributing to the field of plant cell and molecular biology. As a member of incredibly talented teams in her career, Runkel has developed technologies to address grower challenges through biological and sustainable solutions.

Matt Sowder is the Director of Field Solutions, Biosciences. He brings to the company a history of agronomic expertise from a career in agronomy and product management. He has worked in product development in a broad array of crops and processes from sorghum to alfalfa and biotechnology to seed treatments. Sowder provides technical support directly, serving as a collaborator and innovator for customers and sales staff as he has throughout his career. He’s also managed a team of professionals for more than 20 years. Prior to joining Mosaic Biosciences in 2022, Sowder worked most recently with Forage Genetics International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Land O’ Lakes, where he was charged with product and inventory management across the entire commercial portfolio of alfalfa and sorghum in four brands.  He also formerly managed a nationwide team of technical support staff for seed products in Winfield United. Sowder earned a B.S. in Soils from Texas Tech University, and a M.S. in Agronomy from Texas A&M University. He and his wife reside near Memphis, Tennessee.

Braydn Lingbeck is the Regional Sales Agronomist for Mosaic Biosciences. His role includes evaluating existing and new Mosaic Biosciences products. He also provides technical support to both internal and external customers.

Chad Becker is a SE Iowa native and attended Western Illinois University for his Bachelors degree in Agricultural Business and the University of Missouri for his Masters degree in Weed Science. Chad is currently the Agronomist for Mosaic Biosciences and provides agronomic technical support for the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma primarily. Chad has had various sales support and research roles across the Midwestern United States over the past 28 years to help provide diverse experiences to help grow the biological business for Mosaic.

Cam Blackford is an Agronomist with Mosaic Biosciences.  He is an experienced agricultural researcher with a long history in testing and developing a wide variety of innovative agricultural technologies in a diverse assortment of crops. At Mosaic, Cam’s primary responsibility is in supporting the specialty crop market mainly out in the Western region, but he is active in all of Mosaic Biosciences agronomic product development.  Prior to joining Mosaic Biosciences in 2023, Cam worked for a variety of companies in an agricultural research or regulatory role including Arcadia Biosciences, Pioneer Hi-Bred International and the USDA-ARS. Cam earned a B.S. in Soil Science from U.C. Berkeley and a M.S. in Plant Pathology from the University of Maine. He lives with his wife in the SF Bay Area in California.

Dr. W. Roland Leatherwood is the Crop Nutrition Lead for Eastern North America at The Mosaic Company. Roland educates and trains internal and external customers on Mosaic performance products and balanced crop nutrition. He has had an extensive career in developing specialty and advanced fertilizers for agronomic and specialty crops, as well as introducing those products to growers. Roland received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Horticulture at North Carolina State University where he specialized in the impacts of crop nutrition on plant abiotic stress tolerance.