Carrie Balkcom has been named the new chair of The Humane Society of the United States’ National Agriculture Advisory Council. . The HSUS formed the National Agriculture Advisory Council in 2016 to advance more humane, regenerative and sustainable animal husbandry practices on farms and ranches and to highlight producers who subscribe to these standards.

Balkcom is the executive director of the American Grass-fed Association, which protects and promotes grass-fed and pasture-based farming and ranching. Balkcom grew up on a Florida cattle ranch and has stayed connected to the agriculture and livestock industry. She has held leadership roles in numerous regional and national conferences and is well known in agricultural, culinary and sustainable agricultural circles.

Balkcom’ s appointment to the volunteer post came during the recent HSUS Wendell Berry Faith and Farming Summit held at The Museum of the Bible where a number of new farmers, and agriculture industry specialists joined the council. They include Mike Eby, from Pennsylvania, Jim Keen, DVM, from Nebraska, Hampton Reid, Jr. and Jonathan Buttram from Alabama.

“The Humane Society of the United States is proud to support and work with farmers and ranchers who embrace more humane animal husbandry practices as a cornerstone of how they do business,” said Kitty Block, acting president and CEO for The HSUS. “They have become an indispensable voice for our fight against the cruelty of industrial animal agriculture and policies that harm the American family farmers and rural communities. We are grateful to Carrie and our new members for their strong leadership and have the utmost confidence in their ability to move forward our critical work in protecting farm animals and the American family farmer.”

Since establishing the HSUS Rural Affairs program, The HSUS has formed 14 state and regional agricultural advisory councils, adding Illinois and Alabama within recent months, and plans to add at least three additional new state councils in 2018.