The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees for the Vidalia Onion Committee to fill four producer member seats and four alternate member seats whose terms will begin Jan. 1, 2024. Nominations will be accepted through Sept. 8, 2023. Voting will take place Sept. 21, 2023, at the Vidalia Onion Committee office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Eligible nominees must be engaged in a proprietary capacity in the production of Vidalia onions for market. The appointed members will serve for a two-year term of office.
For nomination information, contact Vidalia Onion Committee Interim Executive Director Chelsea Blaxton Page at (912) 537-1918 or by email at cablaxton@vidaliaonion.org, or USDA Marketing Specialist Delaney Fuhrmeister at (863) 324-3375 or by email at Delaney.Fuhrmeister@usda.gov.
The marketing order authorizes research and promotion programs for Vidalia onions grown Georgia, as defined by the marketing order. The Vidalia Onion Committee administers the order locally and consists of eight producer members and their alternates and one public member and an alternate. More information about the Committees is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Vidalia Onion Committee webpage or on the Committee’s website at https://www.vidaliaonion.org/.
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.
