Our Heart for and Dedication to Serving Rural America

Tom Sell, in his role as founder and manager of Combest, Sell & Associates provides the firm steady guidance and management, fosters strong relationships with influential leaders in Congress and the Administration, and leads client development efforts.

Prior to founding CS&A, Tom served as Deputy Chief of Staff for the House Committee on Agriculture, where he was instrumental in crafting the 2002 Farm Bill and the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000. He also served in the President George W. Bush Administration – on the transition team in 2000 and later as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.

A native of West Texas, Tom is a licensed member of the State Bar of Texas and received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Texas Tech University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness from Texas Tech University. Tom and his wife, Kyla, reside in Lubbock, Texas and have four children. He remains active in his family’s farm and ranch operation and serves on community, church, and charitable boards and commissions.

The Honorable Collin Peterson represented Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District, one of the nation’s largest agricultural districts, in Congress for 30 years. During his tenure, Mr. Peterson chaired the House Committee on Agriculture and was fundamental in the crafting and passage of five farm bills. Today, he is the founder and principal of the Peterson Group, an agriculture-policy-focused consulting firm. The Peterson Group is proud to partner with Combest, Sell & Associates where Chairman Peterson deploys his vast experience in an advisory and consulting role.

Jeff Harrison serves as Senior Counsel at Combest, Sell & Associates. Jeff leads the firm in developing and implementing legislative and regulatory strategies, building coalitions, and promoting client priorities.

Prior to joining CS&A in 2005, Jeff served 13 years on Capitol Hill, including as a Legislative Director in the U.S. Senate and as Counsel for the House Committee on Agriculture where he was lead counsel on the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 and numerous titles to the 2002 Farm Bill, including commodities and crop insurance. Jeff also clerked for the Honorable Paul A. Magnuson, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota where he was sworn into the Minnesota State and Federal Bar. Jeff has had a hand in crafting every major agriculture statute written in the past 25 years.

A native of Bluffton, Minnesota in Otter Tail County, Jeff graduated with distinction from the University of North Dakota School of Law where he also earned his undergraduate degree. Harrison resides in Washington, DC and is active in the Latin Mass community at his parish.

Brandon Willis serves as Combest, Sell & Associates’ Senior Policy Consultant, with a focus on Federal Crop Insurance. Willis also serves as an Assistant Professor at Utah State University.

Previously, Brandon served as the Administrator of the Risk Management Agency at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Senior Advisor to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs at the Farm Service Agency, and as an Agriculture Legislative Assistant in the U.S. Senate.

Brandon earned an LLM in agriculture law at the University of Arkansas, a law degree at the University of Wyoming, and an undergraduate degree in agriculture at Utah State University. Brandon grew up on a sheep ranch in Bear Lake, Utah where he and his wife, Victoria, raise their two children.

Jill Whitley serves as the Member & Events Manager at Combest, Sell & Associates. In her role, Jill oversees CS&A association management services and is responsible for meeting planning and execution.

Prior to joining CS&A in 2015, Jill was the Central United States Training Coordinator for Fireman’s Fund Insurance where she trained both crop insurance agents and adjusters. She also worked for USAG Insurance Services and the Roosevelt Independent School District.

Jill was raised on her family’s third-generation farm in Acuff, Texas where she lives today. She attended Texas Tech University. Jill and her husband, Chad, have two children and one grandchild.

Holt serves as an associate in the Lubbock office of Combest, Sell & Associates.

Before joining CS&A, Holt worked as a Legislative Director in the Texas House of Representatives. Holt was responsible for Agriculture and Livestock policy in the office of Representative "Doc" Anderson. He was also the organizer and contact for Texas Legislative Rural Caucus. Holt also has experience in small business, having started and managed a brush management business with his brother, and serving as manager at a local family owned greenhouse in Lubbock.

Holt grew up in Munday, Texas, on his family’s farm. He received his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Business from Texas Tech University and currently lives in Lubbock, Texas with his wife, Laney. 

Piper Merritt is an associate in the Washington, DC office of Combest, Sell & Associates.

Prior to joining CS&A, Piper worked in strategic communications at FGS Global, where she crafted proactive and strategic media outreach efforts for her clients. Before moving to Washington, she worked as a program aide for the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) at Texas A&M University, and participated in the University’s Agricultural and Natural Resource Program as a policy intern for the House Committee on Agriculture. 

A native of Owasso, Oklahoma, Piper’s connection to agriculture grew through her active involvement in her local FFA chapter, where she discovered a passion for agricultural policy at a young age. As a national FFA officer, Piper advocated for youth in agriculture across 40 states and in Japan. She holds a BS in Agricultural Leadership and Development, a Minor in Agricultural Economics, and a Certificate in International Trade and Agriculture from Texas A&M University.

From its founding, CS&A has worked with passion to honor the legacy of our co-founder, Larry Combest, and the mark he has left on agricultural policy in the U.S. and world. Though Chairman Combest is now fully retired from the firm, we continue to strive for excellence in our representational efforts and all we do to stand for the agricultural producers of this nation so that Chairman Combest's legacy continues to grow. Learn more about the Honorable Larry Combest here.

The Honorable Larry E. Combest grew up on the Combest family farm in the eastern panhandle of Texas where he learned first-hand the value of hard, honest work. He attended then-West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M) in Canyon, Texas, driving 200 miles each day to attend class and help at the farm. Aiming to stay close to his agriculture roots, a young Larry Combest took a job as a director with the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (now the Farm Service Agency) where he caught the immediate notice of United States Senator John Tower who tapped the young man to be his agricultural staffer. After serving a number of years for the powerful Texas Senator and with two Farm Bills under his belt, Larry Combest set his sights on the Llano Estacado and returned home to West Texas where he entered the private sector as a small businessman. Six years later, the sitting congressman for the 19th district announced that he would not seek reelection and Combest threw his hat in the ring. Combest won the GOP primary and then the general election that year with nearly 60 percent of the vote, becoming the first Republican — and one of only three men ever — to represent the 19th Congressional District of Texas which then ran from Oklahoma down to the Pecos River, along the Texas-New Mexico border, and included parts of Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland-Odessa. His fellow West Texans reelected Combest nine times, including twice unopposed and twice without major party opposition. His last two elections he won with over 90 percent of the popular vote.

During his 18 years in Congress, Combest was entrusted with the Chairmanship of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and later served as the Chairman of the All-Powerful House Committee on Agriculture, joining fellow Texas Reps. Marvin Jones, William R. Poage, E. Kika de la Garza, and later K. Michael Conaway who also hold that distinction. The year prior to Combest taking the reins at the House Agriculture Committee, the U.S. agriculture economy had collapsed into a deep and serious recession and required Washington’s attention. The newly minted Chairman successfully advocated annual ad hoc emergency relief to help see farmers and ranchers through to better times but Combest also insisted that Federal Crop Insurance and the Farm Bill be significantly strengthened to assist farmers and ranchers over the long haul as they cope with Mother Nature and the predatory trading practices of foreign countries. The major rewrite of the Federal Crop Insurance Act, credited with much of the success of Crop Insurance since 2000, and the 2002 Farm Bill, credited with restoring the farm safety net to struggling farmers and ranchers, both bear the name of Larry Combest as their principal sponsor. Combest is one of only a baker’s dozen in the history of our country to have his name as the chief sponsor of a Farm Bill.

After retiring from Congress, Combest and his wife, Sharon — his best friend and constant companion — took their turn at retirement but soon realized they had much more to offer and their work on behalf of America’s farmers and ranchers was not yet done. In January 2005, Combest began the CS&A practice with his long-time staffer and friend, Tom Sell, who had served Chairman Combest as his Deputy at the Agriculture Committee. Together, they set out to represent the people and the causes they had fought for all of their lives. Over the course of 15 years, under the strong and steady leadership of Chairman Combest, Combest, Sell & Associates has done and continues to do just that each and every day: fight for America’s farmers and ranchers and small-town USA. Now, after 15 years with Combest, Sell & Associates, 18 years in the United States House of Representatives, 8 years as an Agriculture LA in the U.S. Senate, a stint as an ASCS director, and after helping craft 7 of America’s 17 Farm Bills, Larry Combest is hanging up his spurs in order to spend more time in full retirement with Sharon in their beloved West Texas and the mountains of Colorado. We at Combest, Sell & Associates will continue to proudly bear his legacy and continue the fight for U.S. farmers and ranchers and rural America which Chairman Combest has so ably and so honorably served all of his life. Godspeed, Chairman Combest.