2020 Ag Ambassador State Conference: Expand Your Horizons

Yvonne Sams
Director, Logistics Customer Development
G3 Enterprises

Responsible for full P&L of $100,000,000 business including warehouse and transportation for raw materials for glass bottles and wine making around California. Responsible for championing customer development vision and adoption, creating a team and defining the customer journey to provide the best in class logistics service to over 350 customers managing orders, projects, financials, team development and execution orders. Responsible for selling over 2 million square feet of warehouse space in the central valley along with specialty pack services such as repack, bulk to case, case to case, special labeling and reclaim. Manage team of 15 full time and 40 seasonal.

Lauren D. Layne
Partner
Baker Manock & Jensen

Lauren D. Layne is a Partner with Baker Manock & Jensen, PC in Fresno, California, and chairs the firm’s Reclamation & Water Law and Public Agency practice groups.  Her law practice focuses on general water and environmental law, and includes various business transactional matters in the areas of flood control, water rights, water quality, public agency law, agribusiness, and real property. In addition to representing private clients, she serves as general counsel to various irrigation and water districts, flood control districts, and a number of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies.  Ms. Layne has a B.S. in Soil Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and in 2010, she graduated with distinction from McGeorge School of Law.  Ms. Layne is the immediate past chair of the Fresno County Bar Association’s Agricultural Law Section and is the past chair of the California Lawyers Association Business Law Section – Agribusiness Committee.  She is the Vice Chair of the Association of California Water Agencies (“ACWA”) State Legislative Committee and serves on the ACWA Legal Affairs Committee.  Additionally, Ms. Layne serves on the Board of Directors of the Cal Poly Alumni Association, the Cal Poly CAFES Dean’s Advisory Council, and on the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law Alumni Association.  She is a mentor to students at Cal Poly at McGeorge Law School.  Ms. Layne is married to another Cal Poly alum and they have two boys, ages 9 and 6 years.

Mark Herthel
President and Co-Founder
Platinum Performance

Mark Herthel is the President and co-founder of Platinum Performance Inc., a leading nutrition-focused animal health company. Platinum was founded in 1996 while Mark was studying Agriculture Business and Food Science at Cal Poly. Platinum Performance’s mantra is “Where Good Nutrition Meets Good Medicine”. Over the years Platinum has become an aspirational global brand and is currently the number one recommended brand of therapeutic nutritional products by equine veterinarians in the U.S. In addition to advanced nutrition, Platinum Performance® is transforming animal health through technology. Mark is a member and past President of the Santa Barbara Chapter of Young President’s Organization, a member of the Cal Poly Animal Science Advisory Board, and a past President of several local non-profits. He and his wife, Erika, met their Freshman year at Cal Poly and have two children, Kendall and Ryder.

Jake Odello
Director of Food Safety
The Nunes Company

Jake graduated from Cal Poly in June 2015 with a B.S. Degree in Agriculture Science.  He is now finishing a Masters of Science degree in Food Safety from Michigan State University. Since Jake left Cal Poly he has been working in Food Safety, starting at Bonipak Produce in Santa Maria, CA and now is the Director of Food Safety for The Nunes Company, based in Salinas, CA. Jake oversees all the food safety programs from growing to harvesting to cooling for the Nunes Company.  In addition Jake serves as a member of the CA LGMA Technical Committee, and is Chair of the Industry Advisory Council for the Agriculture Education and Communication department at Cal Poly.

Megan Marques
Member Advocacy Specialist
California Farm Bureau Federation

Megan is the member advocacy specialist for the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF). The organization works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 36,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of nearly 5.6 million Farm Bureau members. Megan is responsible for member acquisition, experience and engagement. She also serves as a field representative for the Central Coast region and attends county board meetings as a liaison between the state and local levels. 

Previously, she worked for Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences to manage daily operations for the dean’s office. She also worked for the United States Tennis Association, coordinating initiatives to grow interest in youth sports. Prior to these positions, she began her career as an intern for CFBF.

Megan is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in agricultural communications and a Master of Science in public policy.

Megan was raised in Los Banos, where her family has owned and operated an agriculture and industrial supply store for 40 years. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, especially her two nieces.

Jerry Lohr
Founder
J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines

The son of a hard-working South Dakota farming family, Jerry Lohr was born and raised on what would now be considered an organic farm. The importance of planting each individual crop in its appropriate place was instilled in him from an early age, and he grew to understand that every crop has a natural ability to excel under very specific growing conditions. This knowledge would later become instrumental in his success as a winegrower.

Jerry graduated from South Dakota State University in 1958. He received an M.S. from Stanford in 1959, and completed all coursework for a Ph.D. in civil engineering by 1961 before joining the Air Force. As an Air Force captain, he was posted as a research scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, from 1961-1964. Returning to civilian life, Jerry opened a land development and custom home building business. But his passion for farming and an appreciation of wine soon led him to take on a new challenge: winegrowing.

In the late 1960s, Jerry dove headfirst into his new endeavor with an extensive investigation of California grape growing regions. Aware of the importance of climate, soil quality and location, he finally selected the Arroyo Seco region of Monterey County for his first vineyard in 1972. He was also among the first to realize the untapped promise of Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County, and in 1986 he began planting Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and other red varieties there. Today, J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines farms approximately 4,000 acres of estate vineyards in Paso Robles and Monterey County, as well as 35 acres in the St. Helena appellation of Napa Valley.

Jerry is respected universally by his peers for his intimate understanding of California winegrowing; and with his vast knowledge he is able to address any facet of the winegrowing process, from the day-to-day details of vineyard management to leading-edge viticultural research. An industry leader and one of the few remaining substantial independents, he is a fervent advocate both for the Arroyo Seco area of Monterey County and for Paso Robles, regularly investing his energy and resources to champion these regions.

Dr. Joe Sabol
San Luis Obispo High School Ag Advisor
Retired Cal Poly Professor

Joe Sabol is a retired and extremely experienced agriculturist. He taught Agricultural Education at Cal Poly for 30 years, along with teaching it at San Luis High and Cuesta Community College. Sabol is also a member of California Rare Fruit Growers and the Farm Bureau. Joe continues to work with the California Ag Leadership Program, which he has done for 40 years.