The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for the National Peanut Board to replace one producer member and alternate for the states of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia, for when those terms expire on Dec. 31, 2017. Each member and alternate will serve a 3-year term. Applications are due by May 1, 2017.
The 12-member board is composed of one member and one alternate from each of the primary peanut-producing states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia – and one at-large member and alternate collectively from the minor peanut-producing states. The members and alternates are nominated by producers or producer groups within their respective states.
Nomination meetings for the states are scheduled for the following dates, locations and times:
Jan. 25, 2017 – Mississippi
Mississippi State University Campus
Bost Building B
Starkville, Miss. 39762
The nomination meeting will take place at 3:30 p.m.
Feb. 9, 2017 – Alabama
National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds
Highway 231 South
Dothan, Ala. 36301
Nominations will follow the Alabama-Florida Peanut Trade Show.
Feb. 14, 2017 – Virginia
South Hampton County Fairgrounds
25376 New Market Road
Courtland, VA 23837
The nomination meeting will take place after lunch for the Virginia Peanut Growers Association annual meeting, which begins at 9 a.m.
February 16, 2017- Florida
Jackson County Agricultural Complex and Conference Center
2741 Penn Avenue
Marianna, Fla. 32448
The nomination meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m.
April 7, 2017 – North Carolina
Roanoke Country Club
1380 Fairway Drive
Williamston, NC 27892
The nomination meeting will take place at 10 a.m.
For additional information about nomination meetings and the application process, contact the board’s Vice President of Finance and Compliance Maria Mehok at (678) 424-5750, or email mymehok@nationalpeanutboard.org.
For more information about the board, visit the board’s website at www.nationalpeanutboard.org.
USDA encourages board membership that reflects the diversity of the individuals served by the program.
Since 1966, Congress has authorized the establishment of 22 research and promotion boards that are industry-funded and empower agricultural industries with a framework to pool resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets, and conduct important research and promotion activities. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight, paid for by industry assessments, which helps ensure fiscal responsibility, program efficiency and fair treatment of participating stakeholders