Washington, DC, USA
October 22, 2015

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has appointed 17 members and one alternate member to the United Soybean Board. All but one appointee will serve 3-year terms beginning December 2015.

Appointed board members are as follows:  

• Jim Carroll III, Arkansas;
• Walter L. Godwin, Georgia;
• Lynn Rohrscheib, Illinois;
• Gary Berg (2-year term), Illinois;
• Mark Alan Seib, Indiana;
• April Hemmes, Iowa;
• Dennis Clark, Kentucky;
• Raymond S. Schexnayder, Jr., Louisiana;
• Rochelle Krusemark, Minnesota;
• Todd A. Gibson, Missouri;
• Mark Caspers, Nebraska;
• Morris Lee Shambley, North Carolina;
• Jay Myers, North Dakota;
• John Motter, Ohio;
• Andrew J. Fabin, Pennsylvania;
• David Gregory Iverson, South Dakota; and
• Robert W. White, Jr., Virginia.  
• The alternate member appointed is Tony Smith, Georgia.

The board is authorized by the Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act.  The Secretary selected the appointees from soybean producers nominated by Qualified State Soybean Boards.

Research and promotion programs are industry-funded, were authorized by Congress and date back to 1966.  Since then, Congress has authorized the establishment of 22 research and promotion boards.  They empower farmers and ranchers to leverage their own resources to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets, and conduct important research and promotion activities.  AMS provides oversight, paid for by industry assessments, which ensures fiscal responsibility, program efficiency, and fair treatment of participating stakeholders.

Website: http://www.ams.usda.gov

Published: October 23, 2015