The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees for the American Pecan Promotion Board. Nominees are needed to fill six seats for members whose terms end on Sep. 30, 2023, and one vacant seat with a term that ends on Sep. 30, 2024.
The American Pecan Promotion Board is seeking nominees for the following seats:
- Four producer seats representing the Western Region
- Two importer seats
- One vacant producer seat representing the Central Region
Members appointed to the producer and importer seats will serve three-year terms. The member appointed to the vacant seat will serve a one-year term.
The Western Region consists of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, plus any states in the U.S. whose land mass is in the Mountain or Pacific Time zones, plus any U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean. The Central Region consists of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, plus any U.S. state with the majority of its land mass is in the Central Time Zone.
The board is made up of 17 industry members including ten producers and seven importers.
To serve on the board, producers and importers must have produced or imported more than 50,000 pounds of inshell pecans (25,000 pounds of shelled pecans), on average, for four fiscal periods. Producers who produce pecans in more than one region may seek nomination only in the region in which they produce the majority of their pecans.
More information about the board is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) American Pecan Promotion Board webpage or on the board’s website at www.eatpecans.com. You may also contact the American Pecan Promotion Board at industry@eatpecans.com or by phone at (817) 985-3034, or USDA Marketing Specialist Alex Caryl at Alexandra.Caryl@usda.gov or by phone at (202) 253-4768.
AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of its 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.
Since 1966, Congress has authorized industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight to 22 boards. The oversight ensures fiscal accountability and program integrity, and is paid for by industry assessments.
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