DENVER (March 22, 2012)—Laura Huddle of Napoleon, OH, 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. She 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.
Huddle has been involved with the potato industry for 24 years. At Huddle Brothers, LLC, she and her family produce Langlade, Reba and Superior potatoes for processing and table-stock. They grow carrots, corn and soybeans as rotation crops. To the potato industry, Huddle brings the ability to coordinate people and jobs while dealing with everyday changes.
Huddle is a member of the Ohio Produce Growers & Marketers Association (OPGMA) and is a member and past president of the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program (OVSFRDP). She holds a BS in agriculture from Wilmington College, Wilmington, OH.
Huddle is married to Don Bischoff. She enjoys spending time with family, gardening and landscaping.
Laura Huddle 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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