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

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.”