By Joy Carter
Ga. Peanut Commission
West Higginbothom, legislative assistant for Senator Zell Miller, D-Ga., comments, “Now that the farm bill has passed the greatest concern for Southern farmers is payment limits. We expect a continued effort by some in Congress who do not care or understand Southern agriculture to push for stricter payment limits. Until our agriculture economy turns around, we must continue to fight against the attempts to lower payment limits.”
In addition to the conference program, Valent U.S.A. Corporation, a crop protection company, awarded Congressman Everett and Senator Miller with the Valor Award for their many contributions to Southeastern peanut growers and for their leadership in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. Valor is defined by Webster’s dictionary, “strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness; personal bravery.”
The future of peanut marketing highlighted one of the general sessions during the conference where Ron Wolff, president of R.B. Wolff and Company, a peanut brokerage company, discussed the international peanut market and the major competitors of U.S. farmers. He stressed the importance of a system where U.S. peanuts are marketed freely and competitively, both domestically and internationally. “With good quality crops, well conceived regulations and coordination among growers, shellers and manufacturers,” Wolff says. “Our export future is great!”
Think outside the box is what Stanley Fletcher, professor of agriculture and applied economics at the University of Georgia and coordinator of the National Center for Peanut Competitiveness, recommends. Fletcher discussed the future avenues that farmers can take to market their peanuts such as forming cooperatives. By forming cooperatives, producers have the opportunity to capture profits beyond the farm gate by adding value to their farmer stock peanuts, he says.
Promotion activities of the Peanut Advisory Board and research updates by scientists and the University of Georgia, University of Florida and Auburn University also highlighted the topics discussed throughout the conference.
The Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, formed in 1998, is an alliance between the Alabama Peanut Producers Association, Florida Peanut Producers Association and the Georgia Peanut Commission.
