West Virginia Farmer Appointed to United Soybean Board
HARRISBURG, PA (December 9, 2019) – At their December meeting, the Eastern Region Soybean Board welcomed Nick Kercheval, a soybean farmer from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, to the board of farmer/leaders who administer the soybean checkoff on behalf of soybean growers in West Virginia, Florida and the New England states. Kercheval also represents the Eastern Region as one of the 73 directors of the national United Soybean Board.
Kercheval, a 1974 graduate of Shepherd College in Business Administration and Management, has been a cash crop farmer for 45 years and grows no-till and minimum-till corn and soybeans on 750 acres of owned and leased land. He is currently a member of the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board and has served on the Jefferson County Farm Bureau board and the Farm Service Agency board representing northeastern Jefferson County.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to be part of the Board and put my many years of farming experience to work on behalf of Eastern Region soybean growers,” says Kercheval. “I’m looking forward to helping direct checkoff resources to expand research and education related to soybean production.”
Checkoff funds are used for implementing a program of promotion, research, consumer information, and industry information designed to strengthen the soybean industry’s position in the marketplace. Funds are also used to maintain and expand existing domestic and foreign markets and to develop new markets and uses for soybeans and soybean products.
About the Eastern Region Soybean Board
The Eastern Region Soybean Board (ERSB) is the farmer-controlled Qualified State Soybean Board responsible for managing the West Virginia, Florida and New England states’ share of funds received from the nationwide soybean checkoff program. Funding is available under an assessment program, approved by Congress in 1990, under which soybean farmers contribute 50 cents of every $100 they receive for their beans at the first point of sale. Funds are used to develop markets, educate consumers, and research new ways to utilize and produce soybeans more efficiently. In order to maximize funds available for projects and to reduce overhead costs, the ERSB participates in a shared-executive arrangement with the Pennsylvania Soybean Board.
For more information, visit easternregionsoy.org.
