USGC Chairwoman Verity Ulibarri Shares Outlook For The Year

U.S. Grains Council (USGC) Chairwoman Verity Ulibarri, a sorghum farmer from New Mexico, spoke to the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) last week to offer her thoughts on her role and objectives during her time helming the organization.

Ulibarri was elected as chairwoman at the Council’s 64th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting, held July 26-29 in Salt Lake City, UT. She previously served as the Council’s vice chairwoman and secretary-treasurer and is the former chairwoman of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP).

“My theme is really building on all of the seeds that we’ve planted before,” Ulibarri said. “It’s continuing our relationships, building new ones, working to get into areas of the world we may or may not have been in before and presenting ourselves as ambassadors not just for the U.S. but for U.S. farmers, U.S. agriculture and the value chain.”

Her theme for the year is Cultivate the Future and she will preside over a landmark year for the Council as it implements its first round of regional agricultural promotion program (RAPP) funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“For me, the Council is an organization that expands my reach as a producer,” Ulibarri said. “There’s only so much that we can do domestically to develop markets. The reality is that we in the U.S. have become very good at producing our crops and in order to remain profitable we have to have additional homes for them, and the Grains Council does that.”

Listen to Ulibarri’s full interview with NAFB here.