The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the appointment of 40 members and five alternates to serve on the United Soybean Board. Forty-four members and alternate members will serve three-year terms and one member will serve a one-year term. The terms of board members appointed to three-year terms start December 2022 and end December 2025.
Newly appointed members are:
- Arkansas – Dustin Henson, Paragould
- Delaware – Cory Atkins, Seaford
- Illinois – David Wessel, Chandlerville; Dwayne R. Anderson, Lynn Center
- Indiana – Donald Andrew Wyss II, Fort Wayne; Matthew Chapman, Springport
- Iowa – Robb Ewoldt, Davenport; Brent Renner, Klemme (1-year term)
- Kansas – Kurt Maurath, Oakley; Lance Rezac, Onaga
- Kentucky – Barry Lee Alexander, Cadiz
- Louisiana – Joseph Boudreaux, Port Barre
- Maryland – R. Travis Hutchison, Cordova
- Michigan – Dennis J. Gardner, Croswell; Carla Schultz, Mayville
- Minnesota – Gene Stoel, Lake Wilson; Thomas F. Frisch, Dumont
- Mississippi – Matthew Guedon, Natchez; Jerry Slocum, Coldwater
- Missouri – Neal W. Bredehoeft, Alma; Meagan Kaiser, Bowling Green
- Nebraska – Edward Lammers, Hartington; Victor Bohuslavsky, Seward
- New Jersey – Patrick Giberson, Pemberton
- New York – Jason E. Swede, Piffard
- North Carolina – Reginald H. Strickland, Mount Olive
- North Dakota – Matthew Gast, Valley City; Ryan Richard, Horace; Darren Kadlec, Pisek
- Ohio – Steve Reinhard, Bucyrus; Charles W. Bayliss, West Mansfield
- Oklahoma – Brent A. Rendel, Miami
- Pennsylvania – John Harrell, Lebanon
- South Dakota – Michael McCranie, Claremont; Dawn Scheier, Salem
- Tennessee – Don Willis, Hillsboro; Steve May, Hurricane Mills
- Virginia – Susan A. Watkins, Sutherland
- Wisconsin – Nancy Kavazanjian, Beaver Dam; Tony Mellenthin, Eau Galle; Sara R. Stelter, Wautoma
- Eastern Region – J. Nicholas Kercheval, Harpers Ferry, W.Va.
- Western Region – Rod Hahn, Yuma, Colo.
Newly appointed alternates are:
- Delaware – Robert L. Emerson III, Middletown
- New York – Seth Pritchard, Canandaigua
- Eastern Region – Mark H. Kable, Charles Town, W.VA.
- Western Region – Ross Watermann, Vona, Colo.
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.
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.
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