Beginning Farmer and Rancher Advisory Committee
Juan Carlos Hernandez of Miami, Fla.: Hernandez is a loan officer for Farm Credit of South Florida.
Travis Jett of Laverne, Okla.: Jett is a beginning rancher and a senior at Oklahoma State University.
Karen Kritz of Pemberton, N.J.: Kritz is involved in agricultural economic development at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
Ryan Luter of Morrison, Okla.: Luter is a farmer and an Assistant Vice President at BancFirst Corp. in Oklahoma.
Katherine Minthorn Good Luck of Pendleton, Ore.: Good Luck is the northwest regional representative of the Intertribal Agriculture Council and has a farming operation.
Amarjit Sohal of Yuba City, Calif.: Sohal is an assistant vice president at Sacramento Valley Farm Credit in California.
William Zachary Penn of Deming, N.M.: Penn is a partner in Penn Farms.
Marian Beethe of Tecumseh, Neb.: Beethe heads a beginning farmer program for the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.
Traci Bruckner of Wayne, Neb.: Bruckner assists in directing policy at the Center for Rural Affairs and also has a cow-calf operation.
Richard Cates Jr. of Spring Green, Wis.: Cates directs a school for beginning farmers at the University of Wisconsin and has a cattle operation.
Ray Ellenberger of Belleville, Wis.: Ellenberger is USDA Farm Service Agency's (FSA) farm loan chief in Wisconsin.
Timothy Harlow of Mylo, N.D.: Harlow is an outreach liaison for the National Tribal Development Association, which promotes economic opportunities for American Indians. He also operates a fruit and vegetable farm.
Latrice Hill of Ridgeland, Miss.: Hill is an FSA outreach specialist in Mississippi.
Janie Hipp of Washington, D.C.: Hipp is a National Program Leader for USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service in Washington, D.C.
Lisa Koester of Wadesville, Ind.: Koester is part owner of Koester Brothers Farms, Inc.
Trenton McKnight of Throckmorton, Texas: McKnight is a rancher and director of several banks in Texas. He served as vice-chairman of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers from 2006 through 2007
Ray Mobley of Tallahassee, Fla.: Mobley is an extension veterinarian at Florida A&M University and operates a small farm.
Maria Moreira of Lancaster, Mass.: Moreira is the project director of Flats Mentor Farm and the immigrant farming project in Massachusetts. She also owns a dairy farm.
Mary Peabody of Burlington, Vt.: Peabody is an associate professor at the University of Vermont and director of the Women's Agricultural Network
Jeffrey Ward of Windsor Heights, Iowa: Ward is executive director of the Iowa Agricultural Development Authority and chairman of the National Council of State Agricultural Finance Programs.
