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10 SUGAR PRODUCER | FEBRUARY 2022 Idaho Applicator Named AGCO's Operator of the Year AGCO Corporation has named Kolby Watson of the J.R. Simplot Company and St. Anthony, Idaho, the 2021 Operator of the Year at the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) Annual Conference & Expo in San Antonio on Dec. 1. The award recognizes the skills, dedication and customer service demonstrated by application professionals to their local communities. Watson is well-known in his community for his professional skills and devotion to helping others. Customers specifically request his services in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Watson stays abreast of the industry's fast-paced agronomy developments as a statewide consultant and a regional certified crop advisor, and he regularly pitches in with efforts to harvest local potato crops, which helps area farmers get them into cellars before bad weather arrives. News and Updates from the Sugarbeet Industry UPL Names New Commercial Head of U.S. Ag UPL has named Bryan Brochin as commercial head of U.S. agriculture. With more than 27 years of experience in the agricultural industry, Brochin will be responsible for attaining and exceeding net sales targets as well as driving annual market plans for the U.S. agriculture division. Brochin comes to UPL with 27 years of experience in the agricultural industry. He was most recently the director of global bio-ag marketing and strategy at Novozymes. Previously, he held multiple commercial sales and strategy roles for FMC, AgReliant Genetics and BASF. Bryan Brochin Motion Names VP of Operations Integration Motion Industries, Inc., a leading distributor of maintenance, repair and operation replacement parts, and a premier provider of industrial technology solutions, announces the promotion of John Watwood to vice president of operations integration, effective immediately. Watwood moves to this position from vice president/group executive for the Southeast, to which he was promoted in 2019. In his new and expanded role, he will be responsible for Motion's distribution/fulfillment network, branch operations support and enterprise excellence. John Watwood UPL Ranked No. 1 for Sustainability Performance UPL Ltd. has been ranked by Sustainalytics as the highest-performing top-tier global crop protection company for overall sustainability performance in the 2021 ESG Risk Rating. With significant improvements across multiple categories, this achievement recognizes the work that UPL is doing to "reimagine sustainability" within the global food system. Sustainalytics provides environmental, social and governance (ESG) research, ratings and data to institutional investors and companies, and produces an annual report into the sustainability performance of companies working in a range of sectors. The criteria assessed by Sustainalytics include UPL's successes in managing corporate governance, community relations, business ethics, and carbon footprint. UPL's ESG risk score of 24.9 reflects the best ESG risk among a peer group of global crop protection companies. UPL's 2021 ranking, a 6% improvement on last year's index, follows significant year-over-year advancement in the Sustainalytics company rankings. NIFA Invests in Farm & Ranch Stress Assistance Network The USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has announced an investment of nearly $25 million for 50 grants supporting Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) State Department of Agriculture (SDA) projects. Funded projects must initiate, expand, or sustain programs that provide professional agricultural behavioral health counseling and referral for other forms of assistance as necessary through farm telephone helplines and websites; training programs and workshops; support groups; and outreach services and activities.