The newest board members of U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA) represent American Farm Bureau Federation, Cattlemen's Beef Board and Indiana Soybean Alliance. To further influential conversations on the national stage about how today's food is grown and raised, Scott VanderWal, Janna Stubbs and Jeanette Merritt join USFRA's 17-member Board of Directors and more than 90 affiliates and industry partners that support the organization's effort to earn consumer trust in U.S. food and agriculture.
"It's critical for the agriculture industry to unite as one voice and inform today's consumers about how farmers and ranchers care for the land and their animals," says Nancy Kavazanjian, USFRA Chairwoman and Wisconsin Farmer. "With our newest board members' passion to set the record straight about the way we feed our nation, we look forward to having these exceptional individuals help share the story of farmers and ranchers' commitment to sustainability, continuous improvement and responsible production practices."
The new board members are:
- Scott VanderWal, American Farm Bureau Federation. He is a third generation family farmer from Volga, S.D., where their operation includes corn, soybeans, beef cattle feeding and custom harvesting. VanderWal has served as President of South Dakota Farm Bureau since 2004, a member of the American Farm Bureau board of directors since 2006, and was elected Vice-President of American Farm Bureau in January of 2016.
- Janna Stubbs, Cattlemen's Beef Board. A cow-calf producer from Alpine, Texas, Stubbs was appointed to the Beef Board in 2014. She has served many leadership roles in the beef industry including chair of consumer education and promotion for American National CattleWomen 2011-2012, past president of the Texas Cattlewomen, and a member at large for the West of the Pecos Cattlewomen in 2010.
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Jeanette Merritt, Indiana Soybean Alliance. A fourth-generation family farmer from Peru, Ind., Merrit and her husband raise hogs, corn, soybeans and wheat. She currently serves as the chair of the Indiana Soybean Alliance Membership & Policy Committee. Merritt also serves as director of checkoff programs for Indiana Pork.
