The five new appointees of the National Pork Board have been named. Ag Secretary Vilsack chose five of the eight pork producers nominated by the National Pork Producers Delegate Body in March.
Carl Link of Fort Recovery, Ohio is one of two new board members. Brad Greenway of Mitchell, South Dakota is one of three reappointed members.
Everett Forkner of Richards, Missouri is the president of the Pork Board. Conley Nelson of Algona, Iowa is vice president. Current members of the board include Derrick Sleezer of Cherokee, Iowa and Julie Maschhoff of Carlyle, Illinois.
The Pork Board oversees the distribution and spending of National Pork Checkoff dollars – all US pork producers invest 40 cents per $100 value of hogs sold. Importers of US pork products contribute a similar amount. A portion of the funds – used for research, education and promotion – go back to the states.
Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina and Minnesota are the top five pork producing states in the nation. There were just over 69-thousand pork producers in the U.S. in 2010, according to USDA, with about 64 million head of pigs at the start of 2011.
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