It was four years ago that the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, the American Peanut Shellers Association and the National Peanut Buying Points Association joined together to create the United States Peanut Federation, which is piloted by long-time peanut industry lobbyist Bob Redding who provided a policy update at the recent Southern Peanut Growers Conference in Savannah.
Besides the farm bill, Redding talked about the need to increase exports. “Whether Republicans or Democrats control the White House next January, we’re likely to see increased tariffs, particularly with China. This will be impactful to a number of commodities, either directly or indirectly with peanut, so we might as well face that and brace up for it,” he said. “We worked really hard with the US Peanut Federation to build relationships both in the House and Senate with senior members who are involved in trade policy and we have to increase our export efforts with regard to peanuts.”
In his expectations for a farm bill at this point, Redding said, “We will likely see a farm bill action will be after the election in lame duck session and we’re hopeful the final bill will be similar to the House bill.”
Bob Redding, peanut policy update 35:25