By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Texas is the second-largest peanut-growing state in the nation, and two Texans were recently appointed by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to serve on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Peanut Standards Board.
Donley County farmer Michael Newhouse and Texas Peanut Producer Board (TPBB) Executive Director Shelly Nutt will serve as representatives for the Southwest region, which encompasses Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Both are also Texas Farm Bureau members.
“The board helps set quality and handling standards,” Newhouse said. “This is my first time to serve on a national board. I’m excited to work with the other members as a representative of Texas peanut growers.”
Newhouse has been growing peanuts with his dad since he was old enough to walk. He grew his first crop as a sophomore in high school, and he plans to keep farming peanuts as long as he’s able.
Newhouse lives in Clarendon with his wife Anndria and sons Matthew and Monroe.
Nutt was reappointed this year to serve a second term as the Southwest region’s industry representative. She was first appointed by former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in 2015.
TPPB is a checkoff program dedicated to improving peanut production and promoting the crop. Nutt has been the executive director for 15 years, helping shape the vision and outreach efforts of the organization.
“It’s an honor to be reappointed by Secretary Purdue, who is such a friend to the peanut industry,” Nutt said. “I look forward to a second term of service to the peanut industry.”
The 2002 farm bill required all peanuts marketed in the U.S. to be inspected and graded by federally-licensed inspectors. The farm bill also called for the creation of the Peanut Standards Board to work with USDA on quality and handling standards for domestically-produced and imported peanuts.
The board is comprised of 18 members, one-third of who are appointed each year to serve a three-year term. The recent appointees’ term ends June 2021.
“Recommendations developed by the Peanut Standards Board have played an important part in the production and marketing of peanuts in the United States,” Perdue said. “I look forward to working with the newly seated members to continue to help their industry thrive.”