"Peanut Butter for Haiti" featured on Lubbock's KAMC 13

Watch this news feature from Lubbock's KAMC 13. The clip discusses how the town of Lamesa is helping with the Haiti earthquake relief effort.

Update on Haiti Peanut Butter Effort

As of January 25, Texans have donated $12,000 to the "Peanut Butter for Haiti" effort.

Following the devasting earthquake in Haiti, members of the country's peanut industry came together to raise money to help those in need. The money raised has been used to purchase peanut butter to ship to the Haitian earthquake victims. Peanut butter makes the perfect food item for donation, because it is high in protein, high in energy, does not require water, and is good for 18 months without the need of refrigeration.

Community and business members of Lamesa, Texas contributed $9,350 to the cause thanks to the fundraising efforts of Sharon Cox and Gloria Gonzales of The Fertilizer Place.

Over $84,000 in cash donations has been pledged for the purchase of peanut butter for Haitians. In addition, some peanut manufacturers have donated peanut butter, while others are selling their products at cost to "Peanut Butter for Haiti" to help with the effort. Overall, $254,000 worth of peanut butter has been shipped or is en route to Haiti.

To make a donation for the purchasing of peanut butter, please mail a check made out to “Early County 2055” to the Texas Peanut Producers Board at 4205 N. Interstate 27, Lubbock, Texas 79403. Please not “pnb for Haiti” on the check. Early County 2055 will send receipts to all donors, and all donations are tax-deductible.

Please re-visit this blog for more updates on how you can help with "Peanut Butter for Haiti".

Peanut industry raising peanut butter donations for Haitian earthquake victims

LUBBOCK, Texas –The Texas Peanut Producers Board and several other organizations in the peanut industry are joining efforts to ship peanut butter to the desperate earthquake victims in Haiti.
“Peanut Butter for Haiti” began last Friday when an offer to spearhead the effort came from Early County 2055, a 501c3 non-profit organization located in the heart of peanut country in Blakely, Ga.

Early County 2055 has donated $5,000 to the cause, which was quickly matched by Birdsong Peanuts, a Virginia-based peanut shelling company that also has locations in Blakely, Ga., Brownfield, Texas, and Alabama. Currently, over $60,000 has been raised for the purchase of peanut butter to supply the Haitian earthquake victims.
“The peanut industry is trying to raise enough cash donations to purchase three truckloads (126,000 pounds) of peanut butter to send to Haiti,” said Shelly Nutt, Texas Peanut Producers Board executive director. “This is a well-organized and trustworthy effort from an industry that is no stranger to helping those in need.”
In West Texas, Lamesa community members raised $3,500 from local businesses and individuals to donate to the peanut butter purchase in just one day. They hope to double that figure before the end of the week.
“Peanut Butter for Haiti” has already delivered its first truckload of peanut butter to “Food for the Poor”, a four-star rated charity that is consolidating food and water at their warehouse near Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to send to their ground operations in Haiti. The peanut butter effort has also been working with other reputable charities to ensure all peanut butter donations are placed in the hands of Haitians.
Check donations can be mailed to the Texas Peanut Producers Board office at 4205 N. Interstate 27, Lubbock, Texas 79403. Checks must be made out to “Early County 2055” in order for the donation to be converted into peanut butter. Please designate "pnb to Haiti" in lower left hand corner of your check. All donations are tax-deductible, and all donors will receive a receipt from Early County 2055.
“This is an easy and secure way for Texans to help the people of Haiti by providing them with a nutritious, non-perishable food item that is high in protein,” Nutt said. “I’m so proud to work in an industry that is always so willing to help others who are in need, especially when we’re producing a product that these people so desperately need.”
For more information, contact the Texas Peanut Producers Board at 800-734-0086 .
The Texas Peanut Producers Board is a state-wide board funded by a $2 per ton voluntary check-off program. For more information, contact Lindsay West Kennedy, TPPB communications director, at lindsay@texaspeanutboard.com or call 1-800-734-0086.

Latest Texas Peanut Crop Information

Texas peanut production was estimated at 542.5 million pounds, down 35 percent from 2008. Statewide yield, at 3,500 pounds per acre, was 200 pounds more than 2008.

*Released Jan. 12 by the USDA and National Agricultural Statistics Service

PEANUT PRICES - Peanut Marketing News
*Released January 15, 2010

Peanut prices received by farmers for all farmer stock peanuts averaged 19.8 cents per pound ($396 per ton) for the week ending January 9, 2010. The price per pound decreased 1.9 cents from the previous week. Marketings of all farmer stock peanuts for the week ending January 9 totaled 37.8 million pounds, UP 22.8 million pounds from the previous week. The average price of Runner type peanuts was 19.5 cents per pound ($390 per ton) for the week ending January 9. Marketings of Runner type peanuts were 33.7 million pounds.

TPPB announces biennial elections: Four board seats available, voting opens Jan. 9

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Peanut Producers Board (TPPB) will be holding an election for four expiring directors’ seats beginning January 9 and ending January 23, 2010.


There are three seats open for election in voting region one, which consists of Andrews, Bailey, Brewster, Castro, Cochran, Crane, Crockett, Culberson, Dallam, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Ector, El Paso, Gaines, Glasscock, Hale, Hartley, Hockley, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Lamb, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Moore, Oldham, Parmer, Pecos, Potter, Presidio, Randall, Reagan, Reeves, Sherman, Swisher, Terrell, Terry, Upton, Val Verde, Ward, Winkler, and Yoakum counties.

There is one seat open for election of an at large TPPB board member. The at large member may be from any of the 254 counties in Texas, as long as they meet the requirements below.

A person is eligible to vote in this board election if he or she is currently a producer of peanuts, or for at least one production period during the three years preceding the date of this election (Jan. 23, 2010), has been a producer of peanuts or has caused peanuts to be produced for commercial purposes. This includes owners of farms and their tenants or sharecroppers that pay the peanut assessment. Any person qualified to vote is also qualified to seek nomination for election to the board as a director. Qualified persons voting for a seat in voting region one, must reside in voting region one. However any qualified producer may vote for an at large nominee without the region of residence being factor. Nomination applications must be submitted to TPPB, and signed by the applicant and 10 other eligible voters. Nominations will be available at peanut buying point locations and county agent offices in all 254 Texas counties, or they can be requested by mail directly from TPPB at 4205 N. I-27, Lubbock, Texas 79403. If you request a nomination form by mail from TPPB, please include your county of residence.

Ballots will be available from Texas AgriLife Extension Service offices and peanut buying locations in each of the 254 counties where elections are being conducted. Ballots may also be obtained by mail from the TPPB office between January 9, 2010 and January 23, 2010. For a ballot to be valid, it must be mailed to TPPB, 4205 N. I-27, Lubbock, Texas 79403, with a postmark date of no later than January 23, 2010. Ballots with a postmark date later than January 23, 2010 will not be valid.

Texas Tech's remote sensing technology spreads to peanuts

From Texas Tech:

The economic wallop of Texas peanut products is getting an aerial boost this season from Texas Tech University. Researchers are using a special airborne multispectral remote sensing system on an experimental peanut crop in nearby Brownfield, a small farming community.

The hi-tech gear is used to estimate the plant’s biophysical characteristics, including ground cover, leaf area, biomass and yield.

“Improved monitoring of peanut crops could one day help growers have a healthier crop through improved irrigation practices and pinpoint application of fungicides,” said Stephan Maas, a Texas Tech professor of agricultural microclimatology with joint appointment with Texas AgriLife Research. Maas is a participant in the project, along with Texas Tech Postdoctoral Research Associate Nithya Rajan.

Remote sensing describes the science of identifying, observing and measuring an object without making direct contact with it. The process involves the detection and measurement of light in different wavelengths reflected by the object.
In this instance, the remote sensing system contains high-resolution digital cameras fitted with narrow band-pass filters that allow the cameras to acquire imagery in specific wavelengths of light related to plant growth. The cameras are carried by a single-engine Cessna 172 aircraft operated by Plainview-based South Plains Precision Ag, Inc.

It’s the first year Texas Tech remote sensing experts and peanut breeding specialists from New Mexico State University have used the method on peanuts and, so far, both are excited about the results.

“Development of relationships between biophysical characteristics and remote sensing data could allow routine monitoring of peanut crop growth and yield potential in producers’ fields,” said Naveen Puppala, a peanut breeder with New Mexico State University’s Agricultural Science Center at Clovis. “With more research on remote sensing, it will help the growers to identify the correct time to irrigate their crops.”

Digital data taken from Tech’s remote sensing imagery has already been used to calculate vegetation values – including what’s technically called the normalized difference vegetation index and the perpendicular vegetation index – for the peanut canopies growing in test plots. The two indicators are used to measure the peanut plant’s growth and leaf canopy density.

“Growing the most cost efficient peanut possible is vital to the survival of Texas peanut production,” said Shelly Nutt, executive director at the Texas Peanut Producers Board. “Maximizing irrigation efficiency is key to peanut production profitability.”

Georgia leads the nation in peanut production, followed by the next-largest grower, Texas. Last year’s peanut production was record breaking with the largest crop on record along with the highest average yield on record. Total U.S. peanut production for 2008 was estimated at 5.1 billion pounds.
Written by Norman Martin

Agriculture Commissioner Awards Texas Food Banks $2 Million

LUBBOCK, Texas - Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples today awarded a grant of $2 million to the Texas Food Bank Network to purchase and distribute surplus produce, such as peanut butter, that was the result of overproduction on Texas farms. The funds are available through the Texas Department of Agriculture's Texans Feeding Texans: Surplus Agricultural Products Grant Program.

"In the last year, Texas food banks have experienced a 30 percent increase in demand," Commissioner Staples said. "As the leader of the largest food bank system in the state, the Texas Food Bank Network can better meet the demand and feed hungry Texans with these funds. The Texans Feeding Texans grant is a win for farmers who have excess products, and a win for hungry Texans in need of nutritious food."

Representative Joe Heflin of Crosbyton, Texas praised the state's peanut farmers for continuing to produce a safe, healthy and quality food product.

"Peanut butter is healthy, it tastes great and it's a great product to provide our state's food banks," Rep. Heflin said. "Peanuts are a product that are grown in this state and on the South Plains, and our farmers work hard to produce a safe, quality food product that is healthy to eat. Our food banks need products like peanut butter now more than ever."

During the last two years, the Texas Food Bank Network was able to acquire and distribute 24 million pounds of food to Texas families through the Texans Feeding Texans: Surplus Agricultural Products Grant Program.

From 2005 to 2007, 14.8 percent of Texas households, or 1.2 million people, did not have access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times. During this same time perioud, 23 percent of Texas children were also food insecure.

Donate peanut butter to your local food bank today! Be a part of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce and Texas Peanut Producers Board peanut butter drive, by clicking here! Donate a case of peanut butter for just $20 and help feed a hungry family on the South Plains.