Texas A&M AgriLife peanut sheller to be unveiled Monday

A new $1 million-plus peanut sheller at Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed in Vernon will be unveiled Monday.
Vernon Business Development Corporation managing consultant Rick Hardcastle announced the ribbon cutting as part of the BDC meeting, last week. The sheller was installed, in part, thanks to BDC funding of the project.
Texas A&M AgriLife and Texas Peanut Producers will host the ribbon-cutting and unveiling ceremony at 3 p.m. Sept. 27 at 11914 Highway 70 S., Vernon.
The sheller is among the first of its kind specifically designed for seed production, said Rick Vierling, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed manager and Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center director at Vernon as well as senior adviser for business strategy for Texas A&M AgriLife. The sheller has a 1-ton per hour capacity and will process lots as small as 250 pounds.
Due to design modifications, the new peanut sheller can reduce split-seed losses to less than 10%. It also offers a rarer ability to process identity-preserved peanuts, allowing food companies to procure peanuts with higher-quality traits.
Guest speakers and dignitaries will include Patrick J. Stover, Ph.D., vice chancellor of Texas A&M AgriLife, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research; Bob Parker, National Peanut Board president and CEO; Shelly Nutt, Texas Peanut Producers Board executive director; Wilbarger County Judge Greg Tyra; Grayson Wilmeth, Texas Peanut Producers Board chairman; and John Cason, Ph.D., AgriLife Research lead peanut breeder.