The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the appointment of 17 members and four alternates. Sixteen members will serve three-year terms, one member will serve a one-year term, one alternate member will serve a three-year term, one alternate member will serve a two-year term, and two alternate members will serve one-year terms on the United Soybean Board. The terms of board members appointed to three-year terms will expire at the end of December 2024.
Newly appointed members are:
- Arkansas – Robert Petter, De Valls Bluff
- Georgia – Jesse Patrick, Madison City
- Illinois – Lynn Rohrscheib, Fairmount
- Indiana – Jim Douglas, Flat Rock
- Iowa – April Hemmes, Hampton
- Kentucky – Brent Gatton, Bremen
- Louisiana – Garrett Marsh, Tallulah
- Minnesota – Patrick O’Leary, Benson
- Missouri – Robert Alpers, Prairie Home
- Nebraska – Tony Johanson, Oakland
- North Carolina – Benjamin Derek Potter, Grantsboro
- North Dakota – Cindy Pulskamp, Hillsboro
- Ohio – Jeff Magyar, Orwell
- Pennsylvania – Andrew Fabin, Homer City
- South Dakota – Tim Ostrem, Centerville
- Virginia – Shannon Tignor Ellis, Champlain
- Wisconsin – Nancy Kavazanjian, Beaver Dam (1-year term)
Newly appointed alternates are:
- Georgia – Mark Ariail, Carnesville
- New Jersey – Fred R. Catalano, Woodstown (1-year term)
- South Carolina – Charlie Whiten, Westminster (2-year term)
- Eastern Region – Mark H. Kable, Charles Town, W. Va. (1-year term)
The board is authorized by the Soybean Promotion, Research, and Information Act and is composed of 78 members representing 29 States and Eastern and Western regions. Members must be soybean producers nominated by a qualified State soybean board. More information about the board is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) United Soybean Board webpage.
Since 1966, Congress has authorized the development of industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight of 22 boards, paid for by industry assessments, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
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