The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking nominees for the National Honey Board to fill four member and five alternate seats whose terms will expire Dec. 31, 2022. Nomination applications are due by June 1, 2022.
The National Honey Board is seeking nominees for one first handler, one importer, one producer, one marketing cooperative representative member, and their alternates to serve three-year terms in office. The board also needs one additional importer alternate position to serve a two-year term.
Only qualified national organizations within the honey industry may nominate members. All nominees must meet the qualifications and have a completed application submitted. Producer members or alternates must produce a minimum of 50,000 pounds of honey in the U.S. annually based on the best three-year average of the most recent five calendar years.
A nomination form is available online at https://honey.com/nomination-form You may also contact Margaret Lombard, CEO, National Honey Board at (303) 776-2337 or margaret@nhb.org; or Katie Cook, marketing specialist, USDA at (202) 617-4760 or katie.cook@usda.gov.
The current 10-member board includes three first handlers, three importers, three producers, one marketing cooperative representative, and their alternates. More information about the board is available on the National Honey Board page of the AMS website.
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.
AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of their industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, marketing strategies, and other distinguishing factors, including but not limited to individuals from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Throughout the full nomination process, the industry must conduct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved communities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender