Peanut Council Names Luke Blaustein as President & CEO

If you’ve been busy out on the farm and missed it, the American Peanut Council has a new leader. Lucas “Luke” Blaustein is now serving as the Council’s president and CEO, succeeding Richard Owen, who has moved on to lead the Convenience Distribution Association.

Blaustein brings a wide-ranging background in agriculture and global trade. For the past seven years, he was a diplomat with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, leading projects across Central Asia, the Arabian Gulf, Taiwan, and Washington, D.C. His work included everything from the USA Pavilion at the Qatar World Cup to the Central Asia Rodeo USA livestock marketing program, a Taiwan organic trade agreement, and the evacuation of USDA partners from Afghanistan. Earlier in his career, he was an international grain trader.

Raised in Texas and Georgia, Blaustein now lives with his wife and two young sons on their family farm in West Virginia. He says, “I’m honored to lead an organization that unites the entire U.S. peanut industry, strengthens connections and unlocks new value… I look forward to all we’ll achieve together.”