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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 164 / Friday, August 27, 2021 / Proposed Rules and to develop, maintain, and expand the demand for peanuts in the United States. Under the program, assessments are levied on all farmers stock peanuts sold at a rate of $3.55 per ton for Segregation 1 peanuts and $1.25 per ton for Segregation 2 peanuts and 3 peanuts, as those terms are defined in 7 CFR
996.13b through d. Assessments are remitted to the Board by handlers and, for peanuts under loan, by the Commodity Credit Corporation.
The Order defines terms minor peanut-producing states and primary peanut-producing states for purposes of Board representation and voting at meetings. According to USDA, FederalState Inspection Service, National Peanut Tonnage Reports, there are 13
peanut-producing states, which include:
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
Section 1216.21 currently defines primary peanut-producing states as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. These states must maintain a 3-year average production of at least 10,000 tons of peanuts to meet the current definition.
All other peanut-producing states are defined as minor peanut-producing states in 1216.15 and are represented by one member and one alternate on the Boardcurrently only Louisiana meets this definition.
With the growth in farm size, there are fewer and larger peanut producers than when the Order was promulgated in 1999. As stated above, currently, there is only one state, Louisiana, that represents the minor peanut-producing states, which is the at-large position on the Board. This makes it difficult to get adequate numbers of nominees to fill both member and alternate member seats on the Board. By increasing the threshold for defining primary peanutproducing states to states that maintain a 3-year average production of at least 20,000 tons instead of 10,000 tons of peanuts as currently prescribed, this action would increase the candidate pool for at-large member seats on the Board.
Pursuant to 1216.87, amendments to the Order may be proposed from time to time by the Board or by any interested person affected by provisions of the 1996 Act, including the Secretary of Agriculture.
The Board has been concerned about having enough nominees to fill vacant seats for several years and was hopeful that the situation would improve. The Board staff has actively recruited
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candidates to be considered for nomination from multiple primary peanut-producing states and the at-large state, sometimes with little success. Due to an alternate member vacancy for New Mexico and difficulty finding producers to serve, the Board determined it was time to increase the 3-year average.
The Board discussed increasing the threshold with the industry to explain the situation, and it was determined that increasing the threshold for defining primary peanut-producing states was a good way to give the peanut producing states an opportunity to be nominated for a member or alternate seat on the Board.
Board Recommendation The Board met to discuss methods to increase the pool of candidates for representation of the minor peanutproducing states to serve on the Board.
At the time of the Boards formation in July 1999 64 FR 41252, peanut farms were smaller, and therefore, there were many more producers eligible to be nominated to serve on the Board. In April 1999, USDA reported there were approximately 25,000 peanut producers 64 FR 80107. Based on the Boards records, for the 2018 production crop year, there were 8,126 peanut producers and for the 2019 crop year, there were 7,200 peanut producers.
Currently, in minor peanut-producing states the pool of candidates is very small, with Louisiana being the only state in this category. The Board has had difficulty in gathering the required two nominees for each open position for submission to the Secretary of Agriculture.
The Board has been concerned about this issue for several years and was hopeful that the situation would improve. For approximately 10 years, the Boards management has actively recruited candidates to be considered for nomination from multiple primary and minor peanut-producing states to fill seats on the Board. In the 2020
submission to the Secretary for appointments to fill member and alternate seats for New Mexico, only two nominees were submitted for consideration instead of four. Therefore, only the member seat was filled, and the alternate seat remains vacant. In addition, since there is currently only one state Louisiana representing minor peanut-producing states, it is often difficult to get a sufficient number of nominees to fill member and alternate positions as well. These nominees are comprised of producers of all sizes including small producers.
In 1999, the Board was comprised of 10 members and their alternates. The
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Boards representation for primary peanut-producing states were Alabama, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia and minor peanutproducing states were represented by a Louisiana member and an Arizona alternate member. Over the years, there have been three adjustments of membership, which increased the size of the Boards membership. On July 9, 2008, the Board increased its membership from 10 to 11 when it added Mississippi as a primary peanutproducing state 73 FR 39214. On March 21, 2014, the Board increased its membership a second time from 11 to 12 when it added Arkansas as a primary peanut-producing state 79 FR 15636.
The most recent change in the Boards membership was the addition of Missouri, which was published on March 23, 2020 85 FR 16229. That addition increased the membership from 12 to 13.
For the 2019 production year, computations based on Federal State Inspection Service data show that Georgia was the largest producer, with 49.8 percent followed by Florida 10.7
percent, Alabama 9.4 percent, Texas 8.7 percent, North Carolina 8.1
percent, South Carolina 4.1 percent, Arkansas 3.1 percent, Virginia 2.0
percent, Mississippi 1.4 percent, Missouri 1.2 percent, Oklahoma 1.0
percent, and New Mexico 0.3 percent.
Currently, these 12 states are considered primary peanut-producing states and they each have a member, with their alternate, seated on the Board. All other states minor peanut-producing states that produce peanuts are represented by the at-large member.
As a result of membership adjustments described above, there is currently only one minor peanutproducing state Louisiana representing at-large seats. That minor peanutproducing state has only five producers producing peanuts in that state.
Increasing the threshold from 10,000
tons to 20,000 tons, would cause the state of New Mexico to become a minor peanut-producing state instead of a primary peanut-producing state. This change would increase the pool of candidates eligible to represent minor peanut-producing states as the at-large member and alternate. Minor peanutproducing states would be represented by Louisiana and New Mexico. This proposal would increase the threshold for defining primary peanut-producing states as states that maintain a 3-year average production of at least 20,000
tons of peanuts instead of 10,000 tons of peanuts, an increase of 10,000 tons.

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