People

Murali is presently the Senior Vice President & Global Commercial Head at Yara Clean Ammonia. Previously he had served as the Vice President of Yara’s Ammonia Trade and Shipping Business, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Murali also has served as the Chief Financial Officer for Yara’s Crop Nutrition and Industrial Segments during the period 2010-2016. He started his career in Investor Relations when Yara was publicly listed in March 2004.

Murali has a Ph.D. in Plant Biotechnology from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada. In addition, he has a MBA degree from the Norwegian School of Management BI and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School through the General Management Program (Executive Education)

Angelo Salton is Commodity Analyst, Sulfuric Acid at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Angelo is based in Brazil and has previous experience in covering regional fertilizer markets, including price reporting, market modelling and forecasting. Prior to his role at S&P Global, he worked at farming companies, in consultive roles, particularly in the procurement of ag inputs. He holds a Ph.D in Macroeconomics at Universidade Federal de Vicosa.

Crystal Carpenter is currently a market analysis manager with The Mosaic Company covering fertilizer, agriculture, and macroeconomic markets.  Mosaic is a key global producer of phosphates and potash, and as such, a significant portion of her focus centers around analyzing the market dynamics of these macronutrients.  After obtaining her master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University, Crystal served as a VP of agribusiness consulting at Informa Economics (now S&P Global), where she provided analytic and strategic insight for businesses across a vast array of agriculture and bioenergy sectors for over 10 years.  Following her time at Informa, she worked as a market analyst within CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division, covering specialty crop markets (fruits, nuts, and vegetables).

Mark Tully is the Manager of Global Market Research at Nutrien covering the Agricultural and Fertilizer industries, inclusive of Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potash fertilizers. In his role Mark focuses on macro supply and demand trends driving the ag-industry. Mark has worked at Nutrien for ~7 years in several roles. Prior to his time at Nutrien Mark worked across a number of other industries and earned a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Calgary, and is completing an MBA. Mark and his family currently reside on their hobby farm near Calgary AB, Canada.

Nate Kauffman is Senior Vice President and Omaha Branch Executive at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In his role as the Kansas City Fed’s lead economist and representative in the state of Nebraska, Nate provides strategic direction and oversight for the Omaha Branch, regional research, and economic outreach throughout the state. He serves as a local connection to the nation’s central bank and is responsible for briefing the Kansas City Fed’s president – a member of the Federal Open Market Committee – on regional economic and business activity.

In addition, Nate is the Kansas City Fed’s principal expert in agricultural economics. He is a leading voice on the agricultural economy throughout the seven states of the Tenth Federal Reserve District and the broader Federal Reserve System. Nate oversees several Bank and Federal Reserve efforts to track agricultural economic and financial conditions. He also speaks regularly on the agricultural economy to industry audiences and the news media, including providing testimonies at both U.S. Senate and U.S. House Agriculture Committee hearings.

Nate joined the Federal Reserve in 2012. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University. Prior to receiving his Ph.D., Nate spent three years in Bosnia and Herzegovina coordinating agricultural economic development projects.

Nate lives in Omaha with his wife and four children.

Andrew McCrea is a farmer and rancher, author, and nationally syndicated radio and TV broadcaster. He’s traveled the nation producing “American Countryside,” heard on radio and tv stations coast-to-coast. Andrew’s shared his blend of humor, agriculture and leadership with audiences in 49 states and arenas of 10,000 people.  He will help us look at future trends in agriculture and what the impact may be on farmers and rural communities.

Juan started his career in a boutique wealth management firm in the City of London, moving to CRU in 2007. There he worked with various mining companies on cost benchmarking, valuation, capital raising and refinancing assignments. In 2012, he shifted to become a fertilizer analyst, heading CRU’s research in phosphate markets and costs. He has since headed up the Market Intelligence function at Phosagro Trading, and was Head of Industry Analysis and Forecasting at Eurochem. In 2023, he joined ICL as Market Intelligence Manager of Growing Solutions. Juan holds a Bachelors of Commerce from Stellenbosch University. He is a member of the TFI Economics Council, the IFA Market Intelligence Committee, and the European Potash Producers Association.