Category: New Releases

Get Spring Break Ready with Texas Peanuts

Posted on by jsmith

We know what you’re thinking. What do peanuts have to do with Spring Break?

Besides being an easy-to-pack protein snack, the Texas peanut is part of a healthy whole foods diet. The key to a toned body is lots of protein. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can use peanuts in your Spring Break diet.

Peanuts are Filling

Peanuts are a unique food, because they are perfectly suited for both losing weight and gaining weight. No wonder why Americans eat more than six pounds of peanut products every year!

Raise your hand if you’re a stress-eater. Next time you reach for the bag of chips, grab a couple of handfuls of Texas Peanuts and enjoy a guilt-free filling food.

Peanuts are Nutrient-Packed

Pop a peanut in your mouth and you’re snacking on 29 essential vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Naturally cholesterol-free, peanuts are also low in saturated fats and high in fiber, making them a delicious way to keep your muscles, skin, bones and organs functioning well.

They’re also an ideal treat for people with dietary issues like gluten intolerance or diabetes.

Peanuts Are Travel-Ready

Have shell will travel. In the shell or in a can, the Texas Peanut is ready to go at a moment’s notice. Whether you’re going on a road trip with friends or loading up the kids for a trip down to the Texas coast for the week, the peanut is ready when you are.

Think of all the peanut possibilities!

Don’t Mess With Texas Peanuts

Texas is the second largest peanut growing state in the nation. When you buy peanuts from a Texas producer, you’re helping farmers and their families put food on their own table.

For more about Texas Peanuts, check out ourwebsite peanut butter and jam-packed with resources.

March is National Peanut Month: The (Not) Nutty Facts

Posted on by jsmith

Nothing makes us come out of our shells like National Peanut Month!

A recentCDC studyshowed only 4 in 10 people eat nuts daily. That’s nuts! Here are some facts you may not have known about this limber legume.

Bigger and Better in Texas

Texas is the only state to grow all four varieties and organic peanuts!

One acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.

It takes almost 850 peanuts to make an 18oz jar of peanut butter!

Peanuts are Presidential

Two peanut farmers have been elected President of the United States: Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.

Peanuts are Popular

Americans eat 3 pounds of peanut butter per person every year. That’s about 700 million pounds, or enough to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon!

The average American child will eat 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches by the time he or she graduates from high school.

Did you know there’s a word for the fear of having peanut butter stick to the roof of your mouth?

Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.

The Magic Legume

Did you know that eating peanuts and peanut butter can reduce your risk of diabetes? A study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that women who ate five tablespoons of peanut butter each week could reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes by more than 20%.

Celebrate National Peanut Month by cooking a peanut dish a week. Take a look at our favorite people-pleasing peanut recipes here.

For more legume literature, subscribe to the Texas Peanuts blog.

Organic Peanut E-News

Posted on by jsmith

With organic peanut production on the rise in West Texas coupled with increased consumer demand for organic products, the first ever Organic Peanut Production Seminar met an educational need for area producers.

Hosted by the Texas Peanut Producers Board (TPPB), the seminar provided an opportunity for producers interested in learning about the organic process, many of whom face concerns regarding what it means to stay within organic guidelines for field problems such as weeds and crop disease.

Bob Whitney, Peanut Specialist for TPPB and event organizer said about the meeting, “Overall, it was a great success with approximately 83 attendees representing 93,972 acres of total farmland, of which 10,722 acres consisted of organic peanuts.

A special thanks goes out to crop consultant Dr. Justin Tuggle, Mark Gregory with IPG, Steve Cavitt with TDA, Ryan Lepicier with the National Peanut Board, Ben Johnson with J.M. Smucker Co., TPPB Executive Director Shelly Nutt, and the Grower Panel featuring organic peanut producers for their participation.

With that being said, we believe that the future of organic peanut production is bright, and we are so thankful to be a part of it.

Valentine’s Day Peanut Butter and Chocolate Hearts

Posted on by jsmith

Recipe from It’s Always Autumn

Show your Valentine you care with a homemade peanut butter and chocolate treat. These delicious desserts will wow everyone. Bonus: they’re only four ingredients!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup melted butter

1.25 to 1.5 cups powdered sugar

12 oz milk chocolate

  1. Combine the peanut butter, butter, and 1 heaping cup of powdered sugar in a bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. If PB mixture seems quite sticky, stir in more powdered sugar until you have a cookie dough like consistency.
  1. Place the PB mix between two layers of wax paper and roll out to about a 3/8 inch thickness. Chill until firm (15 minutes in the freezer should do it).
  1. Cut hearts from the PB mix with cookie cutters. Place on a new piece of wax paper. Freeze again until firm. (Either eat the scraps of PB mix or re-roll them and cut more hearts.)
  1. Melt your chocolate as directed on the package or using one of the methods described above. Dip a PB heart into the chocolate, covering it completely with chocolate. Lift the heart out of the chocolate using a fork and tap it gently to remove excess chocolate. Use a toothpick to slide the heart off the fork onto wax paper. Repeat with all the hearts (if you are working with real chocolate work as quickly as you can before the chocolate cools or keep the chocolate in a double boiler with warm water in the bottom).

      5. Allow chocolate to set up at room temperature until firm (a couple of hours).

Enjoy!

For more peanut-infused recipes, subscribe to our blog!

The Texas Peanut Process

Posted on by jsmith

Did you know that in 2017, Statista reported that peanut butter dollar sales in the United States amounted to approximately $1.85 billion? That’s close to 530 million units sold! With numbers like those, it’s pretty clear that peanut butter remains a national staple that we’re all used to seeing in the pantry.

But have you ever wondered how peanuts make their way from the farm all the way to your neighborhood store’s shelves? This month, we’re taking a closer look at the hard work that is required to make all of our favorite peanut butter foods possible!

Step 1: Growing

Though it may seem simple, there’s a lot more that goes into the initial stages of peanut farming than you may think! In the late spring, when the soil has reached a minimum average temperature of about 65˚, peanut planting begins, but not until it has been tested and treated to ensure the most optimal, nutrient-rich growing environment. As one of the most sustainable food sources in the world, peanuts have the ability to conserve water, grow without the aid of fertilizers, and actually improve the quality of the soil through a process called nitrogen fixing.

Peanut seedlings will break the surface of the soil about 10 days after planting, with flowers appearing about 30 days after. Once these flowers begin to pollinate themselves, budding peanut ovaries called “pegs” penetrate the soil and grow until about 40 peanut pods have been produced.

Step 2: Harvesting

Depending on the peanut type and variety planted, farmers can begin harvesting after about 120-140 frost-free days of growth, but only when soil conditions are just right. Once it’s determined that the soil is not to wet or too dry, peanut plants are then dug up, shaken off, rotated, and placed back down in a windrow to dry over the course of the next two or three days.

Once peanuts are dry enough, they are then separated from their vines and placed in a hopper during a process known as “combining.” Peanuts can then make their way off to their next phase while their vines are returned to the earth, serving either as a natural soil fertilizer or livestock feed.

Step 3: Processing

After harvesting, peanuts make their way to processing plants where they are cleaned to remove any leaves, trash, or other foreign objects. After cleaning they are shelled and put through a process known as “blanching,” which makes it easier to remove the skin off of the peanut. Depending on the product to be made, some peanuts are further cooked by roasting and then crushed or left whole depending on their size. Peanuts are also a zero-waste food source, meaning that after processing, by-products are then used in many different items, with the rest of the approved peanuts moving forward to become any number of delicious foods, including the almighty peanut butter.

Step 4:  From the Plant to the Rest of the World

Once peanuts have been processed, they can begin their journey to a shelf near you in the form of food that you and your family can enjoy! As one of the most nutritious and water-efficient food sources available, peanuts are helping innovate the way that different environmental, wellness, and sustainability issues are approached in every corner of the world.

For more information regarding peanuts, peanut products, and more, visit texaspeanuts.com and subscribe to our blog!

What the 2018 Farm Bill Means For Peanut Farmers

Posted on by jsmith

Texas farmers received an early Christmas present last month when President Trump signed the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, commonly referred to as the Farm Bill.

The farm bill passed 369-47 and sets federal agricultural and food policy for the next five years.

Agricultural advocates across the state praised the passage of the important legislation.

Growers Can Now Update Program Yields

Growers across the country will have an opportunity to update program yields. In a one-time opportunity, farmers will be able to use a formula that starts at 90 percent of the average yield for crops from 2013-2017 and reduces it by a ratio that compares the 2013-2017 national average yields with the average for 2008-2012 crops.

Congress Delivers On Top Priority

Provisions made in the bill will remove crop insurance barriers, maintaining a strong crop insurance program. Federal crop insurance has become the dominating safety net for farmers the past 20 years.

Extended Family Members Now Eligible For Farm Supports

Nieces, nephews, and first cousins become eligible for farm supports under the 2018 Farm Bill, a step back from previous farm bills, which tried to tighten payment limits. The CBO estimates a $4 million a year increase in payments under the new provision.

Good News For Peanut Farmers

Texas Peanuts Executive Director Shelly Nutt said the agreement is good news for area peanut farmers in a December Lubbock Avalanche-Journal article.

For more news, information, and fun recipes from the Texas Peanut Producers Board, subscribe to our blog!

Disaster Assistance for Farmers

Posted on by jsmith

LUBBOCK, TEXAS – Congress cleared a budget agreement and disaster-aid package that has a significant impact on farmers for the 2018 crop year. The budget agreement passed the House by a vote of 240 to 186 and passed the Senate by a vote of 71 to 28. The President has also signed the legislation.

The legislation includes $90 billion in disaster assistance for communities impacted by storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and flooding. The legislation also includes provisions for cotton farmers by making seed cotton eligible for Title 1 Agriculture Risk Coverage and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.

Due to the new provisions for seed cotton, the generic base acres for farmers are eliminated for the 2018 crop. Growers will have to choose whether or not to move generic base acres to seed cotton base only or using the 2009-2012 crop year history and moving generic base acres to other covered commodities such as peanuts and seed cotton. Additional details will be forthcoming as the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency publishes details on how this will function for the 2018 crop.

To assist farmers in planning, the National Center for Peanut Competitiveness (NCPC) plans to launch the “2018 Seed Cotton Generic Base and Payment Yield Updating Calculator” this week.

The calculator was developed by the NCPC after reviewing the text of the seed cotton provision in the recently passed budget agreement and disaster aid package. The contents followed the procedures outlined in the 2014 Farm Bill for the other covered commodities payment yield updating and base reallocation provisions. Thus, the NCPC was able to utilize their previous decision aid built in 2014 that was based on the 2014 Farm Bill.

“The decision calculator program is easy to complete as it uses the software program Microsoft Excel,” says Dr. Stanley Fletcher, NCPC’s director and professor emeritus at the University of Georgia. “Farmers can follow the step-by-step instructions provided in the program in order to complete the calculator and determine their base acreages and payment yields. It is important for farmers to review all instructions before proceeding with the decision calculator.”

Peanut grower funds contributed to the development of the decision calculator. These funds were derived from the Texas Peanut Producers Board and other Texas regional associations, members of the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation (SPFF), and through the Southeastern Peanut Research Initiative of the National Peanut Board.

“It is imperative for producers to begin the process of collecting the necessary data now rather than later, given the 90-day deadline in the law,” Fletcher says. “Documents needed by the producer for this process will include the 2018 FSA-156EZ and the 2008-2012 FSA-578 forms for each farm serial number and the associated tracts for that farm serial number.”

The NCPC developed the calculator to assist producers in developing farm strategies and decisions based on their individual needs. The calculator is available for download on the Texas Peanut Producers Board website, www.texaspeanutboard.com. For additional questions, contact Dr. Stanley Fletcher, NCPC director, at 404-277-2319 or email at smf@uga.edu.

Texas Peanut Producers Board seeks National Peanut Board nominees

Posted on by jsmith

Texas Peanut Producers Board seeks National Peanut Board nominees.

LUBBOCK, TEXAS – The Texas Peanut Producers Board (TPPB) seeks eligible peanut producers who are interested in serving on the National Peanut Board. TPPB will hold a nominations election to select two nominees each for member and alternate to the National Peanut Board during a meeting March 1, 2018 at the Gruene River Grill Wine Room in Gruene, Texas. 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.

Peter Froese Jr. of Seminole is the current Texas National Peanut Board member and Jeffery Roper of Lubbock serves as the alternate. The term for the current Texas board member and alternate expires Dec. 31, 2017.   

USDA requires two nominees from each state for each position of member and alternate. The National Peanut Board will submit STATE’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.

USDA Appoints Jeffery Roper of Lubbock as Texas Alternate to National Peanut Board

Posted on by jsmith

Jan. 23, 2018—ATLANTA—Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue recently appointed five members and six alternates to serve on the National Peanut Board. The appointees will serve three-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2018, and ending Dec. 31, 2020. One appointee, the Texas alternate, will serve the remaining one-year portion of a vacancy. The members and alternates will be sworn in by USDA at the quarterly National Peanut Board meeting Feb. 6-7, 2018.

Jeffery Roper of Lubbock is the newly-appointed Texas alternate.

Roper owns and operates Jeffery Roper Farms and produces organic peanuts, cotton, organic milo, and organic wheat and native grasses. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in horticulture from Texas Tech University and is a graduate of Syngenta Peanut Leadership Academy.

Throughout his farming career he has been involved in several peanut industry organizations including the Texas Farm Bureau, Western Peanut Growers Association and Texas Peanut Producers Board, where he currently serves as secretary/treasurer. He has been a member of the American Peanut Council Export Board since 2012, having served as secretary/treasurer, vice-chairman and currently as chairman. He has also served as a board member for Sandyland Underground Water Conservation District.

With First Baptist Church in Plains, Texas, he has served on numerous committees and as interim youth minister. He served with Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief as a volunteer, team leader and FEMA liaison. Currently he volunteers on the worship team of Turning Point Community Church.

Roper and his wife, Melissa, have two children; a married daughter, Brittney Shipley, and a son Bryson. In his spare time, Roper plays golf and has a private pilot’s license.

“I’m looking forward to serving on the National Peanut Board, especially in the important area of exports” said Roper. “I’ve been honored to serve in the past in a number of peanut industry organizations and my appointment to the National Peanut Board is a good way to continue working to help increase profitability for the producer.”

FSA County Committee Elections Begin

Posted on by jsmith

Press Release from the USDA, Farm Service Agency. View the PDF version here.

FSA County Committee Elections Begin; Producers Receive Ballots Week of Nov. 6

Farmers and Ranchers Have Voice in Local Farm Program Decisions

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, October 31, 2017 – Farm Service Agency (FSA) Acting State Executive Director for Texas, Erasmo (Eddie) Trevino, today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin mailing ballots Monday, Nov. 6, 2017, to eligible farmers and ranchers for the 2017 FSA County Committee elections. Producers must return ballots to their local FSA office by Dec. 4, 2017, to ensure their vote is counted.

“County Committee members represent the farmers and ranchers in our Texas communities,” said Trevino. “Producers elected to these committees have always played a vital role in local agricultural decisions. It is a valued partnership that helps us better understand the needs of the farmers and ranchers we serve.”

Nearly 7,700 FSA County Committee members serve FSA offices nationwide. Each committee has three to 11 elected members who serve three-year terms of office. One-third of county committee seats are up for election each year. County committee members apply their knowledge and judgment to help FSA make important decisions on its commodity support programs; conservation programs; indemnity and disaster programs; emergency programs and eligibility.

Trevino said producers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program to be eligible to vote in the county committee election.  Farmers and ranchers who supervise and conduct the farming operations of an entire farm, but are not of legal voting age, also may be eligible to vote.

Farmers and ranchers will begin receiving their ballots the week of Nov. 6. Ballots include the names of candidates running for the local committee election. Voters who did not receive a ballot can pick one up at their local FSA office. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than Dec. 4, 2017. Newly elected committee members will take office Jan. 1, 2018.For more information, visit the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov/elections.  You may also contact your local USDA Service Center or FSA office.  Visit http://offices.usda.gov to find an FSA office near you.