Alabama Peanut Producers Association seeks National Peanut Board nominees

(Jan. 2, 2023) The Alabama Peanut Producers Association seeks eligible peanut producers who are interested in serving on the National Peanut Board. The Alabama Peanut Producers Association will hold a nominations election to select two nominees each for member and alternate to the National Peanut Board during a meeting on February 2, 2023, following the Alabama-Florida Peanut Trade Show at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds, 5622 U.S. Highway 231 South, Dothan, AL 36301. All eligible peanut producers are encouraged to participate. Eligible producers are those who are engaged in the production and sale of peanuts and who own or share the ownership and risk of loss of the crop.

Tom Corcoran of Eufaula is the current Alabama National Peanut Board member and Thomas Adams of Newville serves as the alternate. The term for the current Alabama board member and alternate expires Dec. 31, 2023.

USDA requires two nominees from each state for each position of member and alternate. The National Peanut Board will submit Alabama’s slate of nominees to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, who makes the appointments.

The National Peanut Board encourages inclusion of persons of any race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation and marital or family status. NPB encourages all persons who qualify as peanut producers to attend the meeting and run for nomination.

It is USDA’s policy that membership on industry-government boards and committees accurately reflect the diversity of individuals served by the programs.

About the National Peanut Board
The National Peanut Board represents all USA peanut farmers and their families. The mission of the Board is to improve the economic condition of USA peanut farmers and their families through compelling promotion and groundbreaking research.

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Peanut Buying Points Winter Conference Set for February

The National Peanut Buying Points Winter Conference is set for Feb. 17-20, 2023, at The Grand Hotel Golf Resort and Spa in Point Clear, Alabama. ”

The 2023 conference theme is “Striving to be the Best and Survive.” All buying points, shellers and industry associates are invited to attend.

The program will kick off on Friday night with a President’s Welcome Reception. Educational sessions will be held on Saturday and Sunday mornings. There will be a Prayer Breakfast on Sunday morning. The Great Cash Giveaway Reception and Auction will be held Sunday evening.

Registration is available on the NPBP website at peanutbuyingpoints.org. For more information or to obtain a registration form, email Angela Elder at spearmanagency@friendlycity.net.

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MPGA Annual Meeting Set for Feb. 8, 2023

The Mississippi Peanut Growers Association plan to hold their 18th annual meeting and trade show Feb. 8, 2023, at the Forrest County Multipurpose Center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The event provides growers with the latest information on peanut production, research and new products.

Growers will have the opportunity to visit with several exhibitors showcasing equipment and services for the peanut industry. Speakers during the annual meeting will provide an update on peanut varieties, agronomic practices, peanut market outlook for 2023, weed and insect research in Mississippi peanuts.

Growers will also hear reports on checkoff activities of MPGA and the National Peanut Board.

For more information visit www.misspeanuts.com.

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Alabama – Florida Peanut Trade Show set for Feb. 2

The 16th annual Alabama-Florida Peanut Trade Show is set to be held Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds, located on Hwy. 231 South in Dothan, Alabama.

Sponsored by the Alabama Peanut Producers Association and the Florida Peanut Producers Association, the one-day event offers farmers a full day to view the industry products and services of more than 60 exhibitors. The trade show opens at 8:30 a.m. and will continue until noon with a lunch immediately following.

During the catered lunch, the program will include speakers Marshall Lamb, National Peanut Research Lab, Bob Parker with the National Peanut Board and Bob Redding with The Redding Firm.

Peanut growers who attend will not only be able to fine tune their farming operations, but will have a chance to win prizes valued at thousands of dollars. The Grand Door Prize, sponsored by Kelley Manufacturing Co., is a $5,000 voucher for any one piece of KMC equipment or parts for KMC equipment.

All peanut growers are invited and encouraged to attend. For more information on the show, contact APPA at 334-792-6482 or FPPA at 850-526-2277. For exhibit space availability, contact Kaye Lynn Hataway at klhataway@alpeanuts.com.

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2022 Census of Agriculture underway

(Dec. 19, 2022) – Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mailed the 2022 Census of Agriculture paper questionnaires to all known agriculture producers across the nation and Puerto Rico. Last month, producers in the states received their survey codes with an invitation to respond online. Any producer who did not respond online now has the option to complete the ag census at agcounts.usda.gov or by mail. Producers who have already responded to the 2022 Census of Agriculture online do not need to respond again. The deadline for response is Feb. 6, 2023.

“We encourage producers to respond online,” said USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Administrator Hubert Hamer. “We know producers are busy, which is why NASS worked to make responding to the ag census more convenient than ever before. The online questionnaire is secure and user friendly with several time saving features, such as skipping questions that do not pertain to the operation, pre-filling some information with previously reported data, and automatically calculating totals.”

The Census of Agriculture remains the nation’s only comprehensive and impartial agriculture data for every state, county, and U.S. territory. Farm operations of all sizes, urban and rural, which produced and sold, or normally would have sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural products in 2022, are included in the ag census. The data inform decisions about policy, programs, rural development, research, and more. The Census of Agriculture is the producer’s voice in the future of American agriculture.

Responding to the Census of Agriculture is required by law under Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113. The same law requires NASS to keep all information confidential, to use the data only for statistical purposes, and only publish in aggregate form to prevent disclosing the identity of any individual producer or farm operation. NASS will release the results of the ag census in 2024.

To learn more about the Census of Agriculture, visit www.nass.usda.gov/agcensus.

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National Peanut Board elects officers

The National Peanut Board held its last meeting of 2022, Dec. 5 – 6, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. The Board approved a new slate of officers for a one-year term beginning on
Jan. 1, 2023.

Paul Rogers, a peanut farmer from Wakefield, Virginia, was elected chairman of the National Peanut Board during the quarterly meeting. Last year, Rogers served as vice chairman. Les Crall of Weatherford, Oklahoma, is the immediate past chairman.

Also, the National Peanut Board elected Greg Baltz of Pocahontas, Arkansas, as vice chairman; Casey Cox Kerr of Camilla, Georgia, as treasurer; and Neal Baxley of Mullins, South Carolina as secretary.

Committee meetings were also held including Strategic Planning and International Trade, Domestic Promotions, Evaluation and Measurement and Budget and Finance. The next board meeting is planned for in-person attendance Feb. 7-8, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Field Rows and Field Shows

Jim McArthur, better known as Randy the Farmer, has taken the social media platforms Tik Tok and YouTube by storm. He is well known for his comedic videos, especially when it comes to his infamous tripping and crazy wig. His fame due to his farming was a long time coming though.

McArthur had always grown up around the farm, but farming had not always been in his plans.“Growing up, I wasn’t your normal farm kid that was all about farming and loved it,” McArthur says. “I tolerated farming, but dad always had me doing the grunt work that he couldn’t ask his main guys to do like leveling peanuts in the wagon at harvest.”

McArthur is now a second-generation farmer but his family’s involvement in agriculture goes back further generations. His grandfather owned the peanut mill, which back then was known as McArthur Croft Peanut. It is now Malone Peanut in Malone, Florida. Also located in Malone is the chemical and feed store that his father currently runs. The feed store began back in the early eighties. His father began farming in 1974 and is still producing crops to this day. Forty-eight years later, McArthur is still producing peanut, cotton, and small grains on the family farm.

It was 2009 when he decided to move back and once he got home, he never left. A few short years later, McArthur and his wife welcomed their first child. Years continued to pass by, and McArthur continued to make videos for himself of small things around the farm. He quickly realized that YouTube videos heavily focused on farming were becoming a big hit and he decided to take a shot at it in 2020.

McArthur’s original game plan for his YouTube channel was for it to be cartoon-like and centered around kids. That was when his first video was created called the “Kitty Kat Seafood Bar.” Regulations and restrictions got in the way and his channel then morphed into the farm video channel it is today throughout multiple social media channels. His channel is now widely known as “Field Rows.”

Although McArthur’s success with “Randy” was never planned, he has become widely successful with roughly 339.2K followers. “Randy” began as a joke with his kids.
McArthur’s children loved the idea of crazy Uncle Randy and Aunt Sandy. The crazy wig, tightly tucked in shirt, and constant falling brought humor for the kids, but what McArthur did not realize was the humor it would bring for the entire world. “Randy’s” career on Tik Tok took off when one of McArthur’s close friends, Jeff, suggested he should try out the new social media platform Tik Tok. From the very first video, “Randy” was receiving a lot of traction.

McArthur and his wife now have three kids all while running a farm and a successful social media platform and business. Although his plate stays quite full, he still gets to follow his true passion of creating videos. McArthur truly is living his best life doing the three things he loves most, raising his kids, farming and creating videos. His success now gets him noticed in public places, but he would not have it any other way.

 

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Rippey Joins Alabama Peanut Producers Association

Kaycee Rippey joined the Alabama Peanut Producers Association (APPA) staff on Nov. 3, 2022, as the Communications Coordinator. Rippey holds a bachelor’s degree in Animal Sciences with a minor in Communications from Auburn University. She has been involved in agriculture throughout her life and has a passion to see it thrive.

Most recently, she worked as the Marketing Representative for Encore Rehabilitation, Inc. Rippey and her husband Clay are also looking forward to welcoming a baby girl in 2023.

Rippey is grateful for this opportunity and is excited to make an impact for Alabama peanut farmers.

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October/November 2022 – Southeastern Peanut Farmer

The October/November 2022 issue of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer is now available online.
Click here!

This issue features:

  • Field Rows and Field Shows
  • Williams Family Honored as Grand Marshal of Plains Peanut Festival Parade
  • 2022 Southern Peanut Growers Conference In Review
  • Peanuts for the Win
  • Young Leaders Take on West Texas
  • 2022 Georgia Peanut Tour Showcases Peanut Belt
  • Georgia Peanut Farm Show Set for Jan. 19, 2023, in Tifton
  • Georgia Peanut Achievement Club
  • Check off reports from the state grower organizations
  • Legislative Update
  • Southern Peanut Growers Update
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Peanut Organizations and Congress Comment on U.S. EPA’s Consideration of Revocation of Tolerances and Cancel Registrations for Certain Organophosphate Uses

Earthjustice petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revoke tolerances and cancel registrations for the food uses of organophosphates. The U.S Peanut Federation, Georgia Peanut Commission, American Peanut Shellers Association and other peanut organizations filed comments in opposition to the revocation of tolerances or cancellation of registrations for certain organophosphate uses.

In addition, peanut state members of Congress also have raised concerns with the U.S. EPA.

See letters below.

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