Kincannon & Reed Assists Stokes Seeds with Chief Commercial Officer Search
October 22, 2026 – Kincannon & Reed (K&R), which exclusively focuses on food, agribusiness, and the related life sciences, has helped to recruit Andy Paston as chief commercial officer of Stokes Seeds, a leading North American supplier of vegetable seed serving commercial growers across the United States and Canada. “Andy brings a strong combination of agricultural expertise and commercial leadership,” said Aaron Locker, managing director at Kincannon & Reed. “He has demonstrated the ability to bring structure to growing organizations, build accountable teams, and translate technical expertise into commercial results. Those capabilities will be important as Stokes continues to strengthen its commercial organization and expand its reach across North America.”
“Stokes is at an important point in its evolution, with an opportunity to build on its strong customer relationships and established position in the vegetable seed market,” said Jon Leafstedt, managing partner at Kincannon & Reed. “Andy’s experience leading commercial transformation, combined with his understanding of the agricultural marketplace and vegetable seed business, aligns well with the organization’s goals for its next phase of growth.”
Mr. Paston brings extensive experience across seed, crop protection, biologicals, and specialty agriculture, with a career spanning agronomy, sales, commercial strategy, and organizational leadership. He also brings several years of experience in the vegetable seed market and a track record of building sales organizations, expanding market presence, integrating acquisitions, and developing high-performing teams.
Most recently, Mr. Paston has led commercial functions for an agricultural business that grew 70 percent+ during his tenure. He expanded the sales organization, supported integration following an acquisition, and helped extend the company’s presence into the Western U.S. and Southwest Canada, as well as into adjacent market sectors.
In his new role, Mr. Paston will work across Stokes’ commercial functions and with key suppliers to strengthen market positioning, commercial effectiveness, and product strategy. He will have responsibility for the company’s commercial functions across North America, including sales, marketing, product development, and customer service. Mr. Paston will also help strengthen coordination across Stokes’ commercial organization, build expanded partnerships with strategic suppliers and customers, and support continued growth across the company’s markets.
Stokes Seeds connects leading global genetics providers with commercial growers across North America, offering a broad portfolio of vegetable seed varieties suited to diverse crops, regions, and production systems.
Founded in 1981, Kincannon & Reed serves clients throughout the world from locations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The firm is based in Arlington, VA. Kincannon & Reed’s mission is: “We recruit leaders for organizations that feed the world and keep it healthy.”
Mr. Locker consults with clients on the recruitment and development of senior-level leadership and bring thirty years of experience assessing, hiring, and building teams for various firms across the agriculture industry. His career highlights include roles with Syngenta, FMC Corporation and Vivid Life Sciences.
Related: Kincannon & Reed Assists CCI Prime with CFO Search
Mr. Leafstedt, managing partner, draws on his expertise in agriculture and biotechnology to help associations, cooperatives, and early-stage companies define their talent needs and recruit senior leadership. Passionate about connecting people with the right roles and organizations, he has led more than 200 searches in his tenure with Kincannon & Reed. Mr. Leafstedt is located in Des Moines, IA.
Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association Search
Kincannon & Reed also recently placed Patrick Carney as the new executive director of the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association. Dave Smith stepped down from his executive role after leading the association for more than 30 years. “Patrick pairs dairy industry knowledge with award-winning marketing experience and the hands-on leadership style this role demands,” said Mr. Leafstedt. “PA Dairymen’s has real brand momentum, and the board wanted a leader who could extend it into new venues and channels while connecting that growth back to Pennsylvania’s dairy families. That is the work Patrick has done for the past eight years.”
“Patrick already knows Pennsylvania’s dairy farm families from his time at the American Dairy Association North East, and he brings marketing talent that will take the milkshake, and everything it supports, further than we’ve taken it so far,” said Mr. Smith.
“We are thrilled to welcome Patrick to the PA Dairymen’s Association as our new executive director and look forward to the innovation, strategic vision and leadership he will bring to our organization,” said board president Glenn Gorrell. “Following a thoughtful search process, our board unanimously agreed that Carney is the right leader to guide us into our next chapter. His passion for our mission, extensive industry experience, collaborative leadership style, award-winning marketing expertise, vision and deep understanding of our industry make him uniquely positioned to build on our strong foundation and drive continued growth and success.”
Related: Kincannon & Reed Places CEO at Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
