NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
Sitting Down with Chief Agricultural Officer, Mel Machado
Blue Diamond icon, Mel Machado, was recently promoted to chief agricultural officer. He joined Almond Facts to discuss his new role, the strategic plan, and his passion and vision for growers and almond farming. AF: When you started your career at Blue Diamond in the 1990’s did you have any idea you’d end up where you are now ? MM: Definitely not! I’ve often wondered how I ended up here. I grew up in a dairy and my background and interests were in vegetables. I ran the school farming operation and taught plant science and ag business for the night program at Merced College for 13 years. I
Relations for the past four years, to chief ag officer. Could you talk about your primary responsibilities in the role and what growers can expect ? MM: The big change for me is that I‘m no longer involved in the day-to-day management of the Member Relations team. It’s now in the capable hands of our lead regional managers, Christine Ivory and Trent Voss. Member Relations now reports to Steve Schult, SVP of Global Supply Chain. The move integrates Member Relations deeper into the organization and allows me to be more involved in the strategic initiatives. One of my roles has been, and will continue to be, an ambassador to the almond industry and to the greater ag community. My internal role deals more with the development and implementation of initiatives as they relate to the strategic plan, and how the function of producing the almonds interacts with how we’re advancing the direction of the Cooperative.
never thought I’d be teaching either. But the department chair, Ken Huepel, called as I was graduating from Fresno State and asked me to visit with him which led to the position as a part-time instructor where I taught plant science courses. Meanwhile, I was a full-time “Farm Coordinator” overseeing the 250-acre school farm. Ken had a way of challenging you. One day he informed me that I was going to teach a computer applications course. Not having any experience in that area, I was naturally very concerned. But he told me, “You do your best work when you’re learning. You’ve got a year to get it done.” He was an amazing mentor, and I owe him a lot. When I eventually decided to get out of education, I was considering public relations in agriculture, which is kind of what I’m doing now! I had turned down three positions at that time for the spot that opened at Blue Diamond that I was fortunate enough to get. AF: Let’s talk about your role at Blue Diamond . It has changed as you’ve moved from vice president of Member
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