USDA Welcomes Eight New Foreign Service Officers to Serve American Agriculture Overseas    WASHINGTON, July 7, 2025—The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Deputy Under Secretary Michelle Bekkering administered the oath of office to eight USDA employees who will serve American agriculture around the globe as members of the Foreign Service.    The newly minted diplomats will begin their careers as agricultural attachés at U.S. embassies and diplomatic missions on five continents, where they will monitor and report on global agricultural production and trade, identify export opportunities for U.S industries, and support U.S. foreign policy objectives.   "The Foreign Service corps is the face and voice of U.S. agriculture around the world, serving at more than 90 embassies and missions covering more than 170 countries," Bekkering said. "I congratulate this new class of officers who have been through a rigorous selection and training process and proven themselves ready to take on the challenge of protecting and advancing the interests of American agriculture in an increasingly competitive global environment."   The officers sworn in today are:   Emma Aspell from Woodstock, Vermont; assigned to the Office of Agricultural Affairs in the European Union in Brussels, Belgium.   Colby Branch from Mahopac, New York; assigned to the Office of Agricultural Affairs in Bogotá, Colombia.   Samuel Driggers from Davis, California; assigned to the Office of Agricultural Affairs in Pretoria, South Africa.  Nigel Hunter from South Orange, New Jersey; assigned to the Office of Agricultural Affairs in Mexico City, Mexico.   Herpin Rochet Jateng from Silver Spring, Maryland; assigned to the Office of Agricultural Affairs in Manila, Philippines.  Kristi Schammel from Maple Grove, Minnesota; assigned to the Office of Agricultural Affairs in Jakarta, Indonesia.   Travis Stahl from Dayton, Ohio; assigned to the Office of Agricultural Affairs in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.    Stephanie Swinehart from Tacoma, Washington; assigned to the Agricultural Trade Office in Tokyo, Japan.    More information about USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service and its work to advance U.S. agricultural interests around the globe is available at www.fas.usda.gov.      Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. This email was sent to stevenmagallanes520.nims@blogger.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service · 1400 Independence Avenue, SW · Washington, DC 20250