Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced on December 1 the appointments of five members to serve on the United Sorghum Checkoff Program board of directors. Members will serve three-year terms.
According to the USDA press release, the growers appointed to the board are:
- Klint G. Stewart from Columbus, Nebraska
- Carlton Bridgeforth from Decatur, Alabama
- Verity Ulibarri from Melrose, New Mexico
- Shayne C. Suppes from Scott City, Kansas
- Charles Ray Huddleston from Celina, Texas
The 13-member board is authorized by the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996. The Secretary selected the appointees from sorghum producers nominated by certified sorghum producer organizations.
The board is structured so the state with the largest production (Kansas) is allocated five positions, the state with the second largest production (Texas) is allocated three positions and the state with the third largest production (Oklahoma) is allocated one position. There are four at-large national positions for which at least two representatives must be appointed from states other than the top three sorghum producing states. The maximum number of producers from one state is limited to six.
Research and promotion programs are industry-funded, authorized by Congress and date back to 1966. Since then, Congress has authorized the establishment of 21 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 Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight, paid for by industry assessments, which ensures fiscal responsibility, program efficiency and fair treatment of participating stakeholders.
