United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently made board member and alternate board member appointments for six states on the National Peanut Board. The appointees will serve three-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2015, and ending on Dec. 31, 2017, with the exception of an Arkansas member and an alternate member who will begin immediately and end on Dec. 31, 2016.
Paul Rogers III of Wakefield is the reappointed Virginia alternate member. With his father, Rogers farms about 150 acres of Virginia-type peanuts in addition to cotton, corn, soybeans, and wheat. Rogers graduated from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Technology and has been actively farming since graduation. Rogers and his wife Dawn have two children, Jake and Lauren. Rogers is two-time past-president of Wakefield Rotarian Club and current co-chair of the Airfield Ducks Unlimited chapter. Rogers also serves on the board of directors of the Virginia Cotton Growers Association and Virginia Farm Bureau Cotton Advisory Committee, as well as on several local civic boards of directors. Outside of farming, Rogers enjoys hunting, baseball and coaching the local recreational baseball 11-12-year-old team.
Rogers said, "It has been enlightening for me to learn about all aspects of the peanut industry as an alternate on the Board. I have been amazed at how much the Board has accomplished with grower dollars, such as allergy awareness. The Board is blessed with great members and an outstanding staff and I look forward to doing my part in investing grower dollars wisely for the betterment of the peanut industry in the future."
The appointees will be sworn in by USDA for their new terms at the December meeting of the National Peanut Board.
To read about the other appointments to the Board, click here.