USMEF Elects New Officers, Passes Traceability Resolution

USMEF concluded its 35th Anniversary Strategic Planning Conference on Friday with the election of new officers for 2011-2012. Danita Rodibaugh of Rensselaer, Ind., was chosen as USMEF chair. Rodibaugh’s family farm operation produces corn, soybeans, wheat and purebred seedstock swine. She became active with USMEF as a member of the board of directors of the National Pork Producers Council and as a past president of the National Pork Board, and has held leadership positions in local, state and national pork organizations.

Steve Isaf of Atlanta is USMEF chair-elect. He is president and founder of Interra International, a multinational food trading and distribution company that annually exports more than 400 million pounds of proteins. Isaf has served four years on the USMEF executive committee and is a past chairman of the USMEF exporter committee.

Mark Jagels of Davenport, Neb., is USMEF vice-chair. Jagels runs a diversified farming operation that produces corn and soybeans while custom feeding cattle and managing a trucking company. Jagels has represented the Nebraska Corn Board on the USMEF executive committee and has led several USMEF trade missions.

Leann Saunders of Castle Rock, Colo., will serve as secretary-treasurer. Saunders is president of IMI Global, Inc. Founded in 1995, IMI Global provides comprehensive, web-based applications for livestock verification and identification, as well as a range of livestock-related consulting services.

“A strong officer team is critical to the success of USMEF,” said President and CEO Philip Seng. “And the leadership we have in place for the coming year possesses tremendous depth and experience while representing a wide range of agricultural interests.”

The USMEF board of directors approved one resolution, which originated in the exporter committee. The resolution states that USMEF strongly supports implementation of a national traceability system in the United States that:

• is built on private sector animal identification and verification programs backed by USDA
• fully meets the expectations of foreign governments and our customers overseas
• produces equivalent outcomes to the live animal tracking systems that importing countries have in place
• recognizes existing USDA programs for beef and pork exports to the EU and beef exports to Japan

The next meeting of the USMEF board of directors is set for May 23-25, 2012, in New Orleans.