The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance elected three new board members to its 17-member board at its spring board meeting April 5 in Moline, Illinois.

Newly elected are Scott VanderWal of Volga, S.D., Janna Stubbs, Alphine, Texas, and Jeanette Merritt of Peru, Indiana.

Meet the new board members

The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance elected three new board members. (Photo: sprokop/Thinkstock)

-VanderWal represents American Farm Bureau Federation on the USFRA board. He is a third generation family farmer. His operation includes corn, soybeans, beef cattle feeding and custom harvesting. He and his wife, Michelle, have two sons, one who farms with them and the other one is a mechanical engineer. VanderWal has served as president of South Dakota Farm Bureau since 2004, a member of the American Farm Bureau board of directors since 2006, and was elected vice president of American Farm Bureau in January 2016.

-Stubbs represents the Cattlemen's Beef Board. She was appointed to the Beef Board in 2014. She and her husband, Andy, are cow-calf producers. Stubbs has served many leadership roles in the beef industry including chair of consumer education and promotion for American National CattleWomen 2011-2012, past president of the Texas Cattlewomen, and a member at large for the West of the Pecos Cattlewomen in 2010.

-Merritt represents the Indiana Soybean Alliance on the board. A fourth-generation family farmer, she and her husband raise hogs, corn, soybeans and wheat. Merritt is chairwoman of the Indiana Soybean Alliance Membership & Policy Committee. She also serves as director of checkoff programs for Indiana Pork.

"It's critical for the agriculture industry to unite as one voice and inform today's consumers about how farmers and ranchers care for the land and their animals," says Nancy Kavazanjian, USFRA chairwoman and Wisconsin farmer. "With our newest board members' passion to set the record straight about the way we feed our nation, we look forward to having these exceptional individuals help share the story of farmers and ranchers' commitment to sustainability, continuous improvement and responsible production practices."

Source: U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance