Texas Tech Government Internship Program a valuable investment

Educating others about the peanut industry is a major priority when it comes to using state peanut check-off dollars. Teaching our students about government and agricultural policy is one way the Texas Peanut Producers Board can invest in the industry’s future.

Each year, the Texas Peanut Producers Board (TPPB) helps fund the Government Internship Program within Texas Tech University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The program was established to help students learn how the U.S. government operates and to give them valuable experience in Washington, DC.

Since the program began in 1999, over 180 Tech students have interned at our nation’s capitol.

Texas Tech 2009 graduate, Laramie Adams, is currently interning this spring with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln.

"Working for the Senate Agriculture Committee with Sen. Lincoln has been very beneficial to me and my future career,” Adams said. “The Committee does a great job of representing the people in our country and, more specifically, in rural areas. Working for the committee has taught me so much about the federal government and the direct impact it has on the agricultural industry."

TPPB Executive Director Shelly Nutt said the program’s value far exceeds the one semester students spend on Capitol Hill.

“This program is important because we can’t assume agriculture will be in good hands in the future,” Nutt said. “These young adults who have agriculture’s best interest in mind could be leading our country someday, and spending a semester in Washington allows them to learn the ropes, and get a foot in the door.”

Many of the program’s participants have made an impact on Washington and agricultural policy. Scott Graves, legislative director to Rep. Mike Conaway, Drew DeBerry, the Texas deputy commissioner of agriculture, and Tom Sell of Combest, Sell & Associates are among the notable alumni who participated in Tech’s Government Internship Program.