U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the appointment of six members to serve on the National Pork Board. Five appointees will serve three-year terms and one appointee will serve the remaining two-year portion of a vacant position.
The appointed members are:
- Gary Asay, Oscon, Ill.
- Rich Deaton, New Madison, Ohio
- Pat FitzSimmons, Dassel, Minn.
- David Newman, Myrtle, Mo.
- Bill Tentinger, Le Mars, Iowa
- Todd Erickson, Northwood, North Dakota (2-year term)
“The National Pork Board works to help increase domestic demand for pork both domestically and internationally. Last year, nearly $6.5 billion of U.S. pork was sold in more than 100 countries around the world,” said Perdue. “I truly appreciate the time and expertise these individuals have agreed to give guiding the board to help their industry thrive.”
The National Pork Board is composed of 15 pork producers who are nominated by the National Pork Producers Delegate Body, which is made up of 160 producer and importer members. The program is administered under the authority of the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act of 1985 (PDF, 102 KB).
Since 1966, Congress has authorized the establishment of 22 industry-funded 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. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight, paid for by industry assessments, which ensures fiscal accountability and program integrity for participating stakeholders.
Source : USDA