Release No.: 067-16
WASHINGTON, March 30, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center Board of Directors.
There is one vacancy for a sheep producer and one vacancy for a person with expertise in finance and management for the 2017 board.
Any U.S. sheep producer may be nominated for the producer position and anyone with expertise in finance and management may be nominated for the other position. Nominations are due by May 16, 2016, and must be submitted by USDA certified national sheep industry organizations. All applicable forms must be completed in their entirety and submitted through the certified organization.
The board comprises of seven voting members and two non-voting members. Voting members include four active U.S. sheep producers; two members with expertise in finance and management; and one member with expertise in lamb or wool marketing. Non-voting members include USDA’s Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs and the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics.
The Secretary of Agriculture selects appointees nominated by any certified national organization whose membership consists primarily of active U.S. sheep producers; and the primary interest of the organization is the production of sheep in the United States.
The Sheep Center was established as part of the 2008 Farm Bill and its board administers a grant program designed to strengthen and enhance the production and marketing of sheep and sheep products in the United States through infrastructure development, business development, production, resource development, and market and environmental research.
For more information, contact Barbara Josselyn; Research and Promotion Division; Livestock, Poultry, and Seed Program, AMS, USDA; 1400 Independence Avenue, SW.; Room 2610-S, STOP 0249; Washington, D.C. 20250-0249; tel. (202) 690-2611, e-mail Barbara.Josselyn@ams.usda.gov.
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