NEWS
______________________________________________________________________________________
CHARLES A. HARTKE, DIRECTOR ● ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, GOVERNOR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2008
CONTACTS:
Jeff Squibb
217-558-1546
CANDIDATES FOR FOUR ILLINOIS COMMODITY
BOARDS ANNOUNCED
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Illinois Department of Agriculture today announced the
candidates for four state commodity boards.
Producers will vote July 8 to determine members of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board,
the Illinois Soybean Program Operating Board, the Sheep and Wool Marketing Board and the
Illinois Beef Association Board of Governors Checkoff Division.
Anyone who produces and markets the commodity that each board represents is eligible
to vote. Ballots may be cast at county Cooperative Extension Offices during regular operating
hours.
“I encourage producers to cast a ballot,” Acting Agriculture Director Tom Jennings said.
“The decisions that these boards make will affect the future of their industry.”
Checkoff dollars come from assessments levied at the first point of sale. State law sets the
assessment for corn at 3/8 of 1 cent per bushel. For soybeans, the rate is 1/2 of 1 percent of
market value and, for sheep and wool, it is 2 1/2 cents per pound. The assessment for beef cattle
was established by federal law and currently is $1 per head for each sale.
-more-
ELECTIONS/2222
Write-in candidates are permitted for the Sheep and Wool Marketing Board, Soybean
Program Operating Board and Corn Marketing Board. However, write-in candidates for the
soybean and corn boards must file a “Declaration of Intent” with the Director of Agriculture by 5
p.m., July 1, to be eligible for election. The declaration of intent form is available by contacting
the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
Soybean, corn and sheep and wool producers who cannot make it to the polls on election
day are eligible to vote absentee. Absentee ballots can be obtained from the Illinois Department
of Agriculture and must be returned to the department by July 3.
There are no provisions for either write-in candidates or absentee voting in the beef board
election.
Election results will be announced by Aug. 1. Winners will receive three-year terms. A
list of commodity districts holding elections this year, the counties they include and the names
and hometowns of the candidates follows:
District
1
4
7
10
13
ILLINOIS CORN MARKETING BOARD
Counties Represented
Candidate
Boone, McHenry, Lake, DeKalb, Kane, Cook,
James F. Robbins, Peotone
DuPage, Kendall, Will
Whiteside, Lee, Bureau, Stark, Marshall, Putnam
James A. Rapp, Princeton
Woodford, McLean, Dewitt, Macon,
William Christ, Metamora
Piatt, Moultrie
Scott, Morgan, Sangamon, Greene,
Timothy Seifert, Auburn
Jersey, Calhoun, Macoupin
Marion, Clay, Richland, Lawrence, Jefferson, Wayne, Ron Gray, Claremont
Edwards, Wabash, White
-more-
ELECTIONS/3333
District
1
4
7
District
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
ILLINOIS SHEEP AND WOOL MARKETING BOARD
Counties Represented
Candidate
Jo Davies, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone,
Appointment
McHenry, Lake, Carroll, Ogle, DeKalb, Kane, Cook,
DuPage, Whiteside, Lee
Bureau, Putnam, LaSalle, Stark, Marshall, Peoria,
Helen Hettinger, Eureka
Woodford, Tazewell
(write-in candidate)
Madison, Bond, Fayette, Effingham, Jasper,
Walt Stubbs, Cobden
Crawford, St. Clair, Clinton, Washington, Marion,
(write-in candidate)
Jefferson, Clay, Wayne, Richland, Edwards,
Lawrence, Wabash, Randolph, Perry, Franklin,
Hamilton, White, Monroe, Jackson, Williamson,
Saline, Gallatin, Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin,
Alexander, Pulaski, Massac
ILLINOIS BEEF ASSOCIATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS CHECKOFF DIVISION
Counties Represented
Candidate
Jo Davies, Stephenson, Carroll, Ogle
Keith Dorty, Freeport
Whiteside, Lee, Henry, Bureau, Stark, Putnam,
Appointment
Marshall
Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Lake, DeKalb, Kane,
Dick Crone, Harvard
DuPage, Cook, LaSalle, Kendall, Will, Grundy,
Kankakee
Rock Island, Mercer, Henderson, Warren, Knox,
Monica Stevens, Altona
Hancock, McDonough, Fulton, Adams
Peoria, Woodford, Tazewell, Mason, Brown,
Appointment
Schuyler, Logan, Cass, Menard, Pike, Scott, Morgan,
Sangamon, Christian, Calhoun, Greene, Jersey,
Macoupin, Montgomery
Livingston, Ford, Iroquois, DeWitt, McLean, Macon, Appointment
Piatt, Champaign, Vermilion, Moultrie, Douglas,
Edgar, Shelby, Coles, Clark, Cumberland, Fayette,
Jasper, Effingham, Crawford, Clay, Richland,
Lawrence
Madison, Bond, St. Clair, Clinton, Marion, Monroe,
Glenn Gordon, Iuka
Randolph, Washington, Jefferson, Wayne, Edwards,
Wabash, Perry, Jackson, Franklin, Hamilton, White,
Williamson, Saline, Gallatin, Union, Johnson, Pope,
Hardin,
Alexander, Pulaski, Massac
-more-
ELECTION/4444
District
1
5
7
9
12
13
ILLINOIS SOYBEAN PROGRAM OPERATING BOARD
Counties Represented
Candidate
Jo Davies, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, Carroll,
Karl Lawfer, Kent
Ogle, DeKalb, Lee
(write-in candidate)
Knox, Peoria, Marshall, Putnam, Tazewell
Dan Farney, Morton
(write-inS.candidate)
Ford, Iroquois, Vermilion
Michael
Cunningham,
Bismarck
(write-in candidate)
Mason, Logan, Cass, Menard, Morgan, Sangamon
Edward C. Mies, Loami
Pike, Scott, Calhoun, Greene, Macoupin, Jersey
Mark Sprague Hull
(write-in candidate)
Montgomery, Bond, Fayette, Marion
C. W. Gaffner, Greenville
###