Candidates for Illinois commodity boards to begin passing nominating petitions soon         

[DEC. 30, 2005]  SPRINGFIELD -- Seats are up for election next year on three Illinois agricultural commodity boards.

Eligible farmers who would like to run for a three-year term on the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, the Illinois Soybean Association Board, or the Illinois Sheep and Wool Marketing Board can pick up nominating petitions beginning Jan. 3.

The Corn Marketing Board will have seats open in District 8, which includes Logan County.

Petitions will be available at University of Illinois Extension offices and the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Candidates for the corn and soybean boards must return them to the department no later than May 15. Petitions for the sheep and wool board are due May 31.

"I encourage producers to run for a commodity board seat," Illinois Agriculture Director Chuck Hartke said. "These positions manage the checkoff dollars that they contribute to pay for research and promotions that create markets for our agricultural commodities."

To serve on a commodity board, farmers must be at least 18 years old, have produced and marketed the pertinent commodity during the 2005 commodity year, reside in the district to be represented, and have submitted a complete nominating petition by the filing deadline.

Elections for all three boards will be on July 6 at local Extension offices. Absentee ballots will be available June 6 and must be received at the Illinois Department of Agriculture no later than July 3.

For more information, contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture at [phone] or TTY [phone].

A list of the counties having commodities elections is below.

[Illinois Department of Agriculture news release]

District	Counties represented
	Illinois Corn Marketing Board
2	Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Carroll, Ogle
5	LaSalle, Grundy, Livingston, Kankakee
8	Peoria, Tazewell, Fulton, Mason, Cass, Menard, Logan
11	Christian, Montgomery, Shelby, Fayette, Effingham
14	Madison, Bond, St. Clair, Clinton, Monroe, Washington

	Illinois Soybean Association Board
2	McHenry, Lake, Kane, Cook, DuPage, Will, Kankakee
10	DeWitt, Macon, Christian, Moultrie, Shelby
11	Piatt, Champaign, Douglas, Edgar, Coles
14	Cumberland, Clark, Effingham, Jasper, Crawford
16	Clay, Richland, Lawrence, Wayne, Edwards, White, Wabash
17	Randolph, Washington, Jefferson, Perry, Jackson

	Illinois Sheep and Wool Marketing Board
2	Kendall, Will, Grundy, Kankakee, Livingston, Ford, Iroquois, Champaign, Vermilion, Piatt, Douglas, Edgar, Coles, Cumberland, Clark
5	Adams, Schuyler, Brown, Cass, Pike, Scott, Morgan, Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin