DENVER (March 22, 2012)—Jared Fielding of Shelley, ID, was seated as a Board Member on the United States Potato Board (USPB) at the organization’s 40th Annual Meeting, March 15-16, in Colorado Springs, CO. He was named to serve on the Board by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on February 6, 2012, for a three-year term ending February 28, 2015. New Board Members serving on the USPB in their first three-year term can be reappointed to serve a second consecutive three-year term.
Fielding has been involved with potato production his entire life on his father’s farm, and seven years as a grower at his family’s Hillside Farms, LLC. He grows Russet Burbanks, Norkotah 278 and Alturas varieties for table-stock and processing. He also produces grain, alfalfa and raises beef cattle.
“My grandfather was born in Shelley and farmed with his brother in the 1940s,” Fielding said. “They grew sugar beets, potatoes, grain, and hay and also ran a feedlot. My dad returned to the farm after graduating from Utah State University (USU) to carry on the tradition. After I graduated from USU, my wife and I also returned to the farm and have been here ever since.”
Fielding is a member of Potato Growers of Idaho and is active with 4-H. He is a member of the LDS Church and works with the Firth Fire Department, Firth, ID. As to unique abilities he brings to the potato industry, Fielding says, “I try to have an optimistic attitude, and focus on solutions, not just the problems.”
Fielding holds a BS degree in civil engineering from USU, Logan, UT. He is an Eagle Scout and an EMS First Responder. He enjoys building things from wood and steel and raising beef cattle.
He is married to Connie Jean Fielding, and they have seven children: daughters Jordan Mary, and Heidi Jean; and five sons: Kyle M, Robert M, Jason M, Brad M and Kent M.
Jared Fielding was confirmed with fellow New and Re-Nominated USPB Board Members by Patricia Petrella, USDA-AMS Marketing Specialist, Fruit and Vegetable Programs (right side podium)at the 40th USPB Annual Meeting, Thursday, March 15, 2012, at The Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, CO. Bob Keeney, USDA-AMS Deputy Administrator, Fruit and Vegetable Programs (second from left), also welcomed and approved the confirmation of the new and returning USPB Board Members.
Authorized under the 1971 Potato Research and Promotion Act, the USPB is composed of producers, importers and a public member appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Producer members are nominated at state and local producer meetings and by mail ballot. Each state is entitled to at least one producer member, and additional members are allotted on the basis of the volume of production. Importer members are nominated by importers, and the number of members is related to the volume of imports, up to a maximum of five importer members.
The USPB administers an industry-funded national research and promotion program to increase US exports and domestic potato consumption. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service oversees the operations of the USPB. More information about the research and promotion programs is available at www.ams.usda.gov/FVPromotion.
For more information on the USPB as the nation’s potato marketing organization, positioned as the “catalyst for positive change,” and the central organizing force in implementing programs that will increase demand for potatoes, please visit www.uspotatoes.com.
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