Tapp reappointed to US Soybean Board

by MATT HUGHES

J-E News Editor

Sebree area farmer Keith Tapp has been reappointed to the United Soybean Board by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Tapp, along with 18 other board members and three alternates were appointed by Vilsack on Wednesday, October 8, 2014. The 70-member board is authorized by the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act. The Secretary selected the appointees from soybean producers nominated by Qualified State Soybean Boards. All appointees will serve 3-year terms beginning December 2014.

“Opportunity for service and the need for leaders has increased dramatically in agriculture over recent years, and the role of the farmer-leader has diversified,” said Rae Wagoner, Director of Communication Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board.  “International marketing, biodiesel, meeting with legislators in Frankfort and Washington, D.C., setting policy for the American Soybean Association and helping to lead action teams for the United Soybean Board are all things that Sebree farmer Keith Tapp has done in service to his fellow farmers.”

Tapp has served his fellow soybean farmers on both the state and nationa level since 1983, holding positions on the peer elected Kentucky Soybean Association Board and the appointed Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board. He is currently the Chair of the promotion board. Tapp has received a variety of awards for his service, including the 2014 Eddie Voils Distinguished Service Award. 

“This award is the highest honor given by the Kentucky Soybean Association and it is not given lightly,”  said former Kentucky Soybean Association President, Davie Stephens, at the organization’s Kentucky Commodity Conference, held in Bowling Green. “He’s done it all willingly, and he’s done it all well. This man is a great example of what a farmer-leader ought to be.”

Tapp currently serves as one of Kentucky’s two representatives to the United Soybean Board, the soybean checkoff’s national arm, where he was selected to serve as Vice Chairman of the Audit and Evaluation Action Team.  He has also represented Kentucky at the national level with the American Soybean Association, the legislative and member-driven side of the soybean coin.

Tapp has served as Kentucky’s representative on national boards and committees for everything from the farmers’ freedom to operate to soy-based biodiesel, and he brings what he learns at the national level back to Kentucky’s soybean farmers. 

Reach MATT HUGHES at 270-667-2068 or matt@journalenterprise.com