Brown to lead Peanut Foundation he Peanut Foundation has a new leader at its helm and one who is no stranger to the peanut industry. Steve Brown, former University of Georgia Extension entomologist, spent many years conducting research and sharing results with peanut farmers across Georgia but now he has the opportunity to coordinate research funding and projects for the U.S. peanut industry as executive director of the Peanut Foundation. The Peanut Foundation is a nonprofit foundation that directs and supports peanut research, on behalf of all segments of the peanut industry, to: reduce costs of production and processing, create a safer product, improve quality and educate the industry and consumers on the benefits of this research. The Peanut Foundation’s research strives to satisfy the demands of consumers while enhancing the commercial viability of the peanut industry. Brown succeeds Howard Valentine, who has served as the executive director of the foundation for 21 years. Valentine had these comments regarding the current research of the Peanut Foundation. “We continue to move forward with developing genetic markers for disease resistance and quality traits. The assembly of the cultivated peanut genome is also moving ahead and should be complete over the next 6-12 months,” Valentine says. “These two tools will allow breeders to more easily incorporate new traits into varieties over the next few decades. The industry continues to support this Peanut Genomic Initiative and the researchers are working diligently to fulfill the complete Strategic Plan developed three years ago.” Brown began his role with the Peanut Foundation in January 2015. Together, Valentine and Brown will work through the transition in 2015. At UGA, Brown was the Extension Entomologist for peanuts and stored agricultural products (including peanuts). He spent much of his time during the 1990s working on solutions to tomato spotted wilt virus, which threatened the industry at that time. He also worked closely with the American Peanut Shellers
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Outgoing Peanut Foundation executive director Howard Valentine (left) and Steve Brown, current Peanut Foundation executive director, discuss the progress the Peanut Foundation has made through the years by funding the peanut genome project.
Association to provide training on the management of pests of farmer’s stock peanuts. In addition to Brown’s former research focus at UGA in entomology and peanut storage, he also served in many adminstrative roles at the university. Brown served as the interim assistant dean for the UGA Tifton Campus, interim director of the Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab at UGA, and assistant dean for Extension where he coordinated all agricultural and natural resources programming in UGA Cooperative Extension. He finished his career at the University of Georgia as the interim associate dean for Extension, leading all of Cooperative Extension. Brown says, he has been impressed with the previous accomplishments of the Peanut Foundation. “Throughout its history, the foundation has funded a variety of important research, but perhaps it will be forever remembered for being the primary funding vehicle for the peanut genome project.” “The peanut has proven to be a genetically complex organism, but due to the perseverance of some very talented scientists, we are very close to having a map of the peanut genome,” Brown adds.
Southeastern Peanut Farmer July/August 2015
“I honestly believe that anyone who may doubt the value of that accomplishment will soon be convinced that this milestone will forever change the peanut industry for the better.” “I look forward to leading the foundation as it shifts to funding projects that actually use the genome to develop peanut plants that perform at levels we couldn’t even imagine without a genomic map,” Brown says. “While other crops have become reliant on GMO technology, marker assisted breeding will allow us to make incredible advances without having to go down that controversial road.” “I look forward to an amazing future for an already amazing crop,” Brown adds. Brown may be reached at sbrown@peanutsusa.com or 229-3871655. t BY JOY CROSBY
Peanut Research Info Online Peanut Foundation: peanutfoundation.org Peanut Genomics: peanutbase.com