Fred Stephens

Fred Stephens’ iconic career spans forty years in agriculture, primarily in senior management positions.Twenty of those years Mr. Stephens was dedicated to establishing an Animal Feed Products Division for Texas Gulf, a leading supplier of soda ash, potash and phosphate products in the industrial and fertilizer industries.

Under the guidance and direction of Mr. Stephens as Vice President and General Manager, Texas Gulf’s new division became a market share leader in North America.Texas Gulf later was purchased by Potash Corporation. Potash provided additional production strength and global marketing opportunities as the largest potash and fertilizer company in the world. Mr. Stephens expanded the division into the international markets and Potash Corp.’s Animal Feed Products Division became the global leader.

During this time Mr. Stephens served on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Feed Industry Association on several occasions. He was honored to be elected as the Chairman of the AFIA and served two years in that capacity.

In 2002, Mr. Stephens was asked to lead the expansion of the International Feed Industry Federation that was in the initial stages of it’s growth. Headquartered in the U.K., the desire was to attract more participation by international corporations as well as associations. Mr. Stephens became President and served two, three-year terms. He was successful in working together with the United Nations FAO organization, located in Rome, achieving NGO status. Furthermore, FAO recognized IFIF as the private sector contact in the global animal feed industry. Today, the IFIF members represent 89% of the world’s total feed production, and partners with the UN in holding educational seminars in emerging countries.