The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees for the Washington Cherry Marketing Committee to fill five producer member seats, five alternate producer member seats, three handler member seats, and three alternate handler member seats whose terms will begin April 1, 2025. Appointed members will serve two-year terms.
Nominations can be made for each district at the following meetings:
District 1
January 22, 2025: Stone Fruit Day – North Central Washington Tree Fruit Days at the Wenatchee Convention Center, 121 N Wenatchee Ave, Wenatchee, Wash.
District 2
January 10, 2025: Cherry Institute meeting at the Yakima Convention Center, 10 N. 8th St. Yakima, Wash.
To be eligible to serve as a member or alternate of the Washington Cherry Marketing Committee, producer nominees must be a producer, or an officer or employee of a corporate producer who owns, or leases, an operation that grows sweet cherries for market. Handler nominees must be a handler, or an officer or employee of a handler who handles sweet cherries for market.
For nomination information, contact Washington State Fruit Commission Executive Secretary Tammy Marquis at (509) 853-3504 or at tammy@wastatefruit.com. You may also contactUSDA Marketing Specialist Virginia Tjemsland at (971) 416-647 or at Virginia.L.Tjemsland@usda.gov.
The marketing order authorizes research and promotion, quality regulations, and marking, pack, and container regulations. The Washington Cherry Marketing Committee administers the marketing order and consists of 16 members. Ten members are producers and six members are handlers. More information about the committee is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Sweet Cherries Grown in Washington webpage.
Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help producers and handlers achieve marketing success by leveraging their own funds to design and execute programs that they would not be able to do individually. AMS provides oversight to fruit, vegetable and specialty crops marketing orders and agreements to help ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils, and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of their industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, marketing strategies, and other distinguishing factors, including but not limited to individuals from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Throughout the full nomination process, the industry must conduct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved communities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender