Biography

Ms. Lorraine Stuart Merrill was appointed to a five-year term as Commissioner of Agriculture, Markets & Food in November 2007 by New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, and reappointed to a second term by Governor Maggie Hassan. She is also an ex officio Trustee of the University System Of New Hampshire. She is a 1973 graduate of the University of New Hampshire. Previously she had been appointed by Governor Jeanne Shaheen to two four-year terms representing the agricultural community on the USNH Board of Trustees. Ms. Merrill is a partner in the Stuart Farm in Stratham, NH, a family-owned dairy farm with a milking herd of 250 registered Holsteins and Brown Swiss. Before being appointed commissioner of agriculture, she was also a journalist and technical writer specializing in agriculture, business, the environment and planning. Ms. Merrill was a field editor and columnist for Hoard's Dairyman and a regular contributor to Farming: The Journal of Northeast Agriculture. Ms. Merrill had also been a regular contributor to such publications as New Hampshire Business Review, Turf magazine, New England Farmer, and Ford New Holland News. She also represented NH and northeast farmers on several USDA committees. She served on the Stratham School Board from 1980 to 1987, and served as board chairman for two years.