Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced the appointment of 13 individuals, including 12 dairy producers and one importer, to serve three-year terms on the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board. Their terms begin immediately and end on Oct. 31, 2020.
Newly appointed producers are:
Region 1 (Alaska, Oregon, and Washington)
Dolores J. Werkhoven, Monroe, Wash.
Region 4 (Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas)
Orville D. Miller, Hutchinson, Kan.
Region 6 (Wisconsin)
Stacy Eberle, Monroe, Wis.
Becky L. Levzow, Rio, Wis.
Region 7 (Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska)
Alex D. Peterson, Trenton, Mo.
Region 9 (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia)
Gregory A. Gibson, Bruceton Mills, W.Va.
Region 10 (Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia)
John M. Larson, Okeechobee, Fla.
Region 12 (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont)
Melissa C. Dziurgot, Durham, Conn.
Reappointed Producers are:
Region 3 (Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming)
James E. Webb, Delta, Colo.
Region 4 (Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas)
William R. Anglin, Bentonville, Ark.
Region 5 (Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota)
Kathleen A. Skiba, North Branch, Minn.
Region 8 (Idaho)
John S. Ballard, Gooding, Idaho
Newly appointed Dairy Importer:
Ralph B. Hofman, Basking Ridge, N.J.
“These appointees will be valuable assets for the National Dairy Board as it carries out its coordinated program of promotion designed to strengthen the dairy industry’s position in the marketplace and to maintain and expand domestic and international markets for dairy products. They represent a cross section of the dairy industry and I know that it will be well served by them," said Perdue.
USDA established the 37-member Board under the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983. Since 1966, Congress has authorized the establishment of 22 research and promotion boards that are industry-funded and empower agricultural industries with a framework to pool resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets, and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight, paid for by industry assessments, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
More information about the board is available on the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board page on the AMS website, including a link to the Board’s membership under the heading Organizational Structure.