NMPF Welcomes Forsyth as Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs

Jan 07, 2026

Trey Forsyth, a native of Iowa agriculture with wide-ranging Washington experience, this week is joining NMPF as its new vice president of government and regulatory affairs.

In this role, Forsyth will oversee the development and execution of comprehensive legislative and regulatory strategies to advance NMPF’s goals for the dairy community at the national level.

Forsyth brings extensive experience in government affairs. In July 2025, he was named acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety. In this role, Forsyth led the USDA Office of Food Safety, which oversees FSIS.

Prior to joining USDA, Forsyth served as a professional staff member for the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry for Chairman John Boozman (R-AR). In this role, he handled livestock, poultry, dairy, animal health, food safety and tax portfolios. Additionally, Forsyth served as senior manager of federal and industry relations for Land O’Lakes, director of government affairs at the Torrey Advisory Group and policy advisor to the chief agriculture negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.