Agricultural Marketing Service : USDA Announces United Sorghum Checkoff Program Board Appointments

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the appointment of five members to serve on the United Sorghum Checkoff Program Board. Four appointees will serve three-year terms and one appointee will serve the remaining one-year portion of a vacant position.

Members appointed to serve three-year terms are:

• Kendall Hodgson, Little River, Kan.
• Jeffry D. Zortman, Fowler, Kan.
• Kent L. Martin, Alva, Okla.
• Joshua Birdwell, Malone, Texas

James Haase, Eads, Colo. is appointed to serve a one-year term at-large.

The 13-member United Sorghum Checkoff Program Board is composed of nine sorghum farmers who represent the three states with the largest sorghum production - Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas - and four at-large national representatives. More information about the board is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) United Sorghum Checkoff Programpage and on the board's website, www.sorghumcheckoff.com.

Since 1966, Congress has authorized the development of industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets, and conduct important research and promotion activities. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight of 22 boards, paid for by industry assessments, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.

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