NATIONAL COMMISSION ON SMALL FARMS MEMBERS Release No.0233.97 Biographical Harold L. Volkmer Chair Mr. Volkmer, Chair, lives in Hannibal, Missouri, and is an attorney. He was a Member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 1967 to 1976, and the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1996. In the U.S. House, Mr. Volkmer served on the House Agriculture Committee's Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee, which he chaired in the 103rd Congress. Desmond Ansel Jolly Vice Chair Dr. Jolly of Davis, California, is an educator with the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of California-Davis. He works as an Extension Agricultural Economist and, since 1995, has been the Director of the University of California Small Farm Program. Kathleen Sullivan Kelley Vice Chair Ms. Kelley is a self-employed farmer/rancher in Meeker, Colorado. She raises wheat, barley, and cattle. She also served in the Colorado Legislature from 1980-1982, and is a member of several Colorado farm and agriculture associations, including the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. Charles Woodrow Albertson Mr. Albertson of Beulaville, North Carolina, still lives on the small family farm where he grew up. He has served in the North Carolina Senate since 1993, and was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1989 to 1992. He is currently chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee. Karen S. Armstrong-Cummings Ms. Armstrong-Cummings of Frankfort, Kentucky, is managing director of the Commodity Growers Cooperative Association in Lexington, Kentucky. She is a member of several Kentucky agriculture associations, including the Kentucky Leadership for Agricultural and Environmental Sustainability. Roger J. Barber Mr. Barber of Middleburgh, New York, is a retired farmer. He currently is a member of the Co-Bank Board of Directors and was director of the Springfield Farm Credit Bank from 1989 to 1994. He has been a New York State Farm Bureau member for thirty years and is chairman of the State Committee for the Farm Service Agency. Ernest Louis Blount Mr. Blount of Elberon, Virginia, is a self-employed farmer and produces peanuts, soybeans and wheat. He has served on the Surry Co-op Farmers Board of Directors for 12 years and has been manager of the Surry Farmers' Market for 10 years. Carrol D. Bolen Mr. Bolen of Waukee, Iowa, works for Pioneer Hi-Bred International in Des Moines. He has held many positions at Pioneer, now serving as vice president and director of legal and government affairs. He owns a 320-acre farm in Hardin County, Iowa. Marion Bowlan Ms. Bowlan of Manheim, Pennsylvania, is Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Farm Link, Inc. She worked for ten years in the area of pottery and farming, and planned and implemented three statewide New and Beginning Farmer workshops. Ben F. Burkett Mr. Burkett of Petal, Mississippi, works as a marketing specialist for the Federation of Southern Coops, and has twenty-five years experience in farming, working a 200-acre farm that produced vegetables, corn, beef cattle, and pine timber. Nelson Carrasquillo Mr. Carrasquillo of Clayton, New Jersey, is the executive director of the CATA-Farmworker Support Committee, and has been working as a community-based organizer since 1968. He is chair of the Farmworkers Health and Safety Institute. Walter E. Coward Dr. Coward of Larchmont, New York, is a senior director of the Ford Foundation. His specialty is agricultural development in Asia, and he has lived and worked in Laos and the Philippines. He received his Ph.D. in rural sociology from Iowa State University. Robert M. Daniels, II Mr. Daniels operates a 640-acre family farm in Sedgwick County, Kansas and produces dryland soybeans, corn, sorghum, and wheat. He is a board member of the Kansas Agricultural and Rural Leadership, Inc. Richard Michael Foster Dr. Foster of Richland, Michigan, is vice president for programs of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural education from Iowa State University and served as a professor at the University of Idaho and University of Nebraska. Raymond Edmund Gomez Mr. Gomez of Alcalde, New Mexico, works as a rural community development project director at the Cooperative Extension Service at New Mexico State University. For several years, he was a self-employed rancher-farmer raising cattle. Dario Vidal Guerra, Jr. Mr. Guerra of Edinburg, Texas, is a self-employed rancher. He currently is Director of the Hidalgo Soil and Water Conservation District and has had that position for 34 years. Greg T. Gunthorp Mr. Gunthorp of LaGrange, Indiana, owns and operates a hog farm, and specializes in pasture-based livestock systems. He is a member of the LaGrange County Farm Bureau and participated in the State Farm Bureau Young Farmer program. Jesse Harness Dr. Harness of Fayette, Mississippi, has had thirty years experience working with small farmers. Currently, he is an associate extension administrator with the Cooperative Extension Program at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi. Charles (Chuck) Henry Hassebrook Mr. Hassebrook of Walthill, Nebraska, is Program Director for the Center for Rural Affairs, and analyzes federal tax policy, research, and conservation and commodity program policy. He is a member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Douglas G. Henderson Mr. Henderson of Beresford, South Dakota, is the owner-operator of a family farm. He is a member of the Mid-Am Milk Coop, the LOL Milk Coop, the National Farmers Union (County President), and served on the State Extension Advisory Board. Frederick Robin Magdoff Dr. Magdoff of Burlington, Vermont, is a professor at the University of Vermont and is the northeast regional coordinator of the Sustainable Agriculture and Research and Education (SARE) program. He has an M.S. and Ph.D. in Soil Science from Cornell University. Jaclyn Kae Reid Ms. Reid of Olympia, Washington, is a retired farmer and community volunteer. She serves as a Conservation District Supervisor and has been Board Chairman for twenty years. Gregory E. Smitman Mr. Smitman of Billings, Montana, is Executive Director of the Intertribal Agriculture Council. He was a founding partner of the Renewable Resource Associates, and worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in several positions. Ronald Alan Stewart Mr. Stewart of Hood River, Oregon, is a certified organic farmer and operates his farm with his wife and sons. They grow apples, pears and cherries. He also owns a packing facility and stores, packs, and markets fruit for their farm and 5 other small farms. Toulu Thao Mr. Thao of Fresno, California, is Executive Director of the Hmong American Community, Inc., a community based nonprofit organization. He farmed fruits and vegetables from 1983 to 1993, and was a project engineer from 1986 to 1997. Thomas Joseph Trantham, Jr. Mr. Trantham of Pelzer, South Carolina, owns and operates Tranthams Dairy in Pelzer. He began farming in 1968 and currently raise 90 Holsteins and practices rotational grazing. He is a member of the National Family Farm Coalition. John Zippert Mr. Zippert of Eutaw, Alabama, is Director of Program Operations for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and works with many African American family farmers and limited resource farmers. He also is co-publisher of the Green County Democrat. # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov