Release No.: 207-14

Hakim Fobia (202) 690-0488

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2014 -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has appointed two members to serve on the Popcorn Board. The appointees will serve three-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2015, and ending on Dec. 31, 2017.

Members re-appointed include Troy Hendrickson of Hamburg, Iowa, and Richard Duty of Denver, Colo.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight of the Popcorn Board in accordance with the Popcorn Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act and the Popcorn Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Order. Under the Order, popcorn processors of more than 4 million pounds per year pay an assessment rate of 6 cents per hundredweight. The program is administered by board members who are selected by the Secretary of Agriculture.

USDA encourages board membership that reflects the diversity of the individuals served by the programs. USDA encourages all eligible women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to seek nomination for a seat on the Popcorn Board.

Research and Promotion programs are industry funded, authorized by Congress, and date back to 1966, when Congress passed the Cotton Research and Promotion Act. Since then, Congress has authorized the establishment of 22 research and promotion boards. They empower agricultural industries by establishing a framework for them to pool resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conducts important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight, paid for by industry assessments, which ensures fiscal responsibility, program efficiency and fair treatment of participating stakeholders.

For more information about research and promotion programs, visit www.ams.usda.gov/FVPromotion. For more information on the Popcorn Board, please contact Deborah Simmons by phone: (202) 720-9915, or e-mail: Deborah.Simmons@ams.usda.gov.

Get the latest Agricultural Marketing Service news at www.ams.usda.gov/news or follow us on Twitter @USDA_AMS. You can also read about us on the USDA blog.

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