SALEM, Ohio — The Trump administration recently dismissed all four women chosen by their peers to represent them on the United Soybean Board, an unprecedented move that the soybean farmers say may have had to do with their gender.
The nationwide soybean checkoff program elects farmers annually to its board to serve three-year terms. After the organization selects board members, the U.S. Department of Agriculture signs off on these nominees.
Five board members were rejected in total; three of the four women said the USDA gave them no explanation for their dismissal. The women rejected include soybean farmers Sara Stelter of Wisconsin, Carla Schultz of Michigan and Susan Watkins of Virginia.
Watkins has been on the board for six years and was appointed treasurer in December. She told Reuters she was working her way up to become a chair of the board, but now is unsure whether those plans will come to fruition.
The Virginia Soybean Board appealed the USDA’s dismissal of Watkins, but the agency replied, saying its decision was final.
Tom Vilsack, former secretary for the Biden administration’s USDA, told Reuters that in his 12 years of leadership, the USDA had never rejected state nominees.
Among the 40 members appointed to the United Soybean Board in February, none of them were women. The 77-member-led board now consists of five women — the lowest amount in roughly a decade. Women make up over a third of farmers in the United States, according to the USDA’s latest Census of Agriculture.
Some of the farmers believe the rejection of the women leaders could be related to the Trump administration’s goals to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Trump passed an executive order last year rolling back the Biden administration’s DEI programs, including equal pay initiatives that aim to correct past failings, stating such programs are illegal and discriminatory.
“Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great,” says the executive order.
