News

EPA Taps KGS Executive for Farm Advisory Panel

LENEXA, KS – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, through Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the appointment of four new members to the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Comittee (FRRCC) from Iowa, Nebraka, and Kansas, to include Kansas Grain Sorghum’s Executive Director Jesse McCurry.

“One of my priorities for EPA has been to restore trust for our Agency among agricultural stakeholders and rural communities,” Wheeler said. “This committee will provide valuable input on how EPA’s decisions impact rural America, and I look forward to receiving the committee’s recommendations.”

“Within Region 7, agriculture is our largest industry and predominant land use with more than 286,000 farm operations across Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford. “EPA strives to deliver innovative environmental solutions that work for rural America, and I am pleased to have voices from our region on the committee to help achieve this goal.”

The FRRCC is a policy-oriented committee that provides policy advice, information, and recommendations to the Administrator on a range of environmental issues and policies that are of importance to agriculture and rural communities. The FRRCC addresses specific topics of relevance to agriculture as identified by the Agricultural Counselor to the Administrator, and reports its policy advice and recommendations to the EPA Administrator through the Agricultural Counselor.

In selecting committee members, EPA reviewed the quality of applications received between Nov. 7 and Dec. 31, 2019, for nearly 150 nominations and considered qualifications such as: whether candidates have experience in agricultural issues of relevance to EPA programs; are actively engaged in agricultural production; have related leadership experience; demonstrated ability to examine and analyze complex environmental issues with objectivity and integrity; have experience working on issues where building consensus is necessary; and are able to volunteer time to the committee’s activities.

The new FRRCC members selected from Region 7 states are:

  • William (Bill) Couser – Couser Cattle Company; Nevada, Iowa
  • Nicholas McCarthy – Central Valley Ag Cooperative; York, Nebraska
  • Jesse McCurry – Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission and Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association; Colwich, Kansas
  • William R. Pracht – Pracht Farms and East Kansas Agri-Energy; Garnett, Kansas

Read more from EPA’s Region 7 news release.