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Florida Peanut Producers Association 2017 Essay Contest

We are excited to announce our 1st annual 2017 essay contest open to students all across the State of Florida. We will have two separate divisions: Junior and Senior. The junior level will be for students in grades 6th-8th and the senior level will be for students in grades 9th-12th. The topic for the both essay divisions will be: What comes to mind when you think of peanut production in the State of Florida? The winner of each division will receive a year supply of 12 jars of peanut butter and be featured in our newsletter. We hope you participate in helping us educate the state of Florida on peanut production. Best of luck to everyone!

Rules & Regulations

  1. Must live in the state of Florida with a Florida home address.
  2. Must be in grades 6th-8th or 9th-12th.
  3. Essay format must be 500 words or more in MLA style with 12 pt. Times New Roman font and double spaced.
  4. Title page should include: Name, City/State, Title of Essay (which is the topic), and date you mail it on.
  5. Essays should be sent by mail to the Florida Peanut Producers Association office and postmarked by no later than Monday, October 16th.

Address:

Florida Peanut Producers Association

2741 Penn Avenue Suite 1

Marianna, Florida 32448

  1. If you have any questions, please email masonzane13@gmail.com or call (850) 526-2590.

2017 Fiber and/or Oil Crop Production Proficiency Award Winner

Each year at the annual Florida FFA State Convention & Expo the Florida Peanut Producers Association sponsor the Fiber and/or Oil Crop Production proficiency award. This award is rewarded to a student that shows excellence through their Supervised Agricultural Experince (SAE) project. To qualify for this area, the student must own the enterprise, or work for a business that includes the best management practices available to efficiently produce and market crops for fiber and/or oil such as cotton, sisal, hemp, soybeans, sesame seed, flax, mustard, canola, castor beans, sunflower, peanuts, dill, spearmint and safflower. This years award winner was Tyler Voorhees of the Bronson FFA chapter.

Tyler Voorhees’ SAE project consists of working for Sandlin Farms out of Williston Florida; where he assits in the growing of 1700 acres of peanuts. Voorhees assits in all aspects of peanut production. All of the peanuts produced at Sandlin Farms are sold to Williston peanuts, where they will  be used to make peanut butter and roasted peanuts. Through his project, he has learned how to use several new pieces of farm equipment and how to properly maintain and service them. Voorhees says, “This can be beneficial later in life,  if I decide to go into the mechanical side of the industry. ” He is a member of the Bronson Senior FFA Chapter and his advisor is Marcia Smith.

Tyler also recently sent off his application to National FFA for judging and recieved a silver rank. Congratulations to Tyler, we hope you continue to rise above and exceed all expectations through your SAE project.

Testimony on PLC

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Meredith McNair Rogers, a more than 20-year veteran farmer from Camilla, Georgia, testified today before the Senate Agriculture Committee that the peanut provisions included in the 2014 Farm Bill and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program work for farmers and consumers – and must be preserved in the next farm bill.

In her testimony, Rogers, who testified on behalf of the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, said, “[Congress] provided a program that pushed our industry to market our products more efficiently in the domestic and export markets.” It is a common-sense and market-based solution offering farmers a price floor that promotes stability and access to lending amidst market uncertainty.

Rogers testified before the full Senate Agriculture Committee at today’s hearing, “Commodities, Credit, and Crop Insurance: Perspectives on Risk Management Tools and Trends for the 2018 Farm Bill,” on behalf of the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation.

As Rogers stated in her testimony, The Federation supports maintaining the current PLC program in the 2014 Farm Bill including the following key provisions:

  • Current Reference Price for Peanuts
  • Separate Peanut Payment Limit (as established in the 2002 Farm Bill)
  • Storage and Handling Provisions

Citing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s projection that net farm income in the U.S. for 2017 will hit $62.3 billion – a 49.6 percent decline since 2013 – Rogers affirmed the value that the PLC program provides for farmers in her community. “If the PLC program had not been in place, I am afraid many farms in the Southeast would no longer exist.”

Rogers also noted that the downturn in the farm economy over the last three years comes at a time when demand for peanuts outpaces supply, as evident by early reports of contract prices for the 2017 crop that range from $475-$550/ton. “Shellers would not be offering these types of contracts unless signals from manufacturers and exporters clearly indicate that they need more peanuts for the marketplace,” Rogers said. “These actions are not being driven by the 2014 Farm bill but instead by the markets and the rules of supply and demand.”

“The bill continues to assure consumers a safe, affordable food supply,” Rogers stated. In addition, the system in place ensures stability in times of both prosperity and times of economic downturn, which enables farmers like Rogers to continue producing the peanuts that people around the world know and love.

For more information and a copy of the complete testimony provided by Rogers visit,www.southernpeanutfarmers.org.