Chester County Farmer Elected to United Soybean Board Executive Committee
HARRISBURG, PA (December 23, 2014) — Chester County soybean farmer Bill Beam has been elected to serve on the United Soybean Board’s (USB) executive committee, and will chair the USB Freedom to Operate Action Team. Beam also chairs the Pennsylvania Soybean Board.
Beam will join eleven other farmer/leaders from throughout the nation on the USB executive committee in overseeing the soybean checkoff to keep it effective, efficient and farmer-driven.
As the leader of the USB’s Freedom to Operate Action Team, Beam will oversee the checkoff investment in education and research into the obstacles that affect a farmer’s freedom to operate. These issues are critical to farmers’ profitability, and the checkoff is there to address them on behalf of farmers and their customers. Some of the issues the soy checkoff monitors involve biotechnology acceptance, sustainability demands, transportation infrastructure breakdowns and public opinion of today’s farming practices.
Bob Haselwood, soybean farmer from Berryton, Kansas, has been elected by his fellow USB farmer-directors to lead the board in investing soy checkoff funds for the next year. The following farmer-leaders will serve on the executive committee to oversee USB’s profit-building projects:
- Chairman: Bob Haselwood, Berryton, Kansas
- Vice Chairman: Jared Hagert, Emerado, North Dakota
- Secretary: Dwain Ford, Kinmundy, Illinois
- Treasurer: John Motter, Jenera, Ohio
- Meal Action Team Chair: Laura Foell, Schaller, Iowa
- Oil Action Team Chair: Jimmy Sneed, Hernando, Mississippi
- Freedom to Operate Action Team Chair: Bill Beam, Elverson, Pennsylvania
- Customer Focus Action Team Chair: John Dodson, Halls, Tennessee
- International Opportunities Target Area Coordinator: Dwain Ford, Kinmundy, Illinois
- Domestic Opportunities Target Area Coordinator: Lewis Bainbridge, Ethan, South Dakota
- Communications Target Area Coordinator: Nancy Kavazanjian, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
- Past Chairman: Jim Call, Madison, Minnesota
The 70 farmer-directors of USB oversee the investments of the soy checkoff to maximize profit opportunities for all U.S. soybean farmers. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds to increase the value of U.S. soybean meal and oil, to ensure U.S. soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate, and to meet the needs of U.S. soy’s customers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soy checkoff.
About the Pennsylvania Soybean Board
The Pennsylvania Soybean Board is a farmer-controlled Board responsible for managing Pennsylvania’s share of funds received from the nationwide Soybean Checkoff program. The funding is available under an assessment program, approved by Congress in 1990, under which soybean farmers contribute 50 cents of every $100 they receive for their beans at the first point of sale. Funds are used to develop markets, educate consumers, and research new ways to utilize and produce soybeans more efficiently. For more information, visit www.pasoybean.org.