THE CURRENT STATE OF FEDERAL FARM POLICY: SUCCESSES, FAILURES, AND PATHWAYS TO REFORM
with Zach Ducheneaux, Angela Huffman & Josh Riddle
Zach Ducheneaux
Affiliate and Partner, Ducheneaux Family Ranch; Founder, 5th C
Ducheneaux is a fourth-generation rancher and the founder of 5th C, a consultancy focused on community-based agricultural solutions.
He previously served as Administrator of the USDA Farm Service Agency —he oversaw national agricultural policy and programs, including farm loans, conservation efforts, and disaster assistance.
Before his time on FSA, he was the Executive Director of the Intertribal Agriculture Council.
He continues to ranch with his family on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation and serves on the board of Project H3LP!, a nonprofit promoting youth development through horsemanship. Ducheneaux brings decades of experience in agriculture, policy, and economic growth. He has spent his career advocating for improved food systems, value-added agriculture, and responses to economic and social challenges facing Indian Country.
Angela Huffman
Co-Founder, President and CEO, Farm Action
Angela Huffman is Co-Founder, President and CEO of Farm Action. She leads the organization’s strategy and public voice, exposing corporate consolidation in the food system and holding corporations and government accountable.
With more than 15 years in agriculture policy, Angela’s work focuses on making complex issues clear and compelling to the public, journalists, and policymakers. She helps translate research and farmer experience into narratives that shape how people understand the food system and what they
demand from it.
Earlier in her career, Angela worked with universities, retailers, processors, distributors, restaurants, and farms to strengthen independent and regional food supply chains.
Her commentary appears in national and rural media. She has been profiled by The Washington Post and The Hill, and appeared on CNBC, NBC News, Fox News, NewsNation, NPR, BBC Newshour, and others.
Angela holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Public Policy and Management from The Ohio State University. She raises registered Katahdin sheep on her family’s 200-year-old farm in Northwest Ohio, continuing a six-generation legacy.
Josh Riddle
Farmer
Josh Riddle is a fourth-generation dryland grain/cattle farmer on the Peone Prairie. He has built his operation from farming smaller parcels to comprise one larger-scale farm business. Over the last 5 years he has been on a journey to push toward farming more in alignment with nature. In practice, he is integrating cover crops, applying inputs made on-farm- such as compost teas and extracts (and more!), and reducing dependence on synthetic off-farm inputs. His heart and soul are driven to grow quality food that heals people and the land.