Surplus of peanuts is a concern

A peanut surplus has industry experts looking for new product uses for the legumes.
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Elsbeth Russell
elsbeth.russell@albanyherald.com

ALBANY — The nation's peanut growers and suppliers are hoping the next sandwich you eat will have peanut butter slathered between the slices of bread.

In fact, they are hoping people around the world will feast on all sorts of peanut products to reduce the surplus that this year's peanut crops have produced.

"I hope we can find a way that these peanuts can be consumed and not crushed," said U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., before speaking Friday to a group of peanut representatives.

Chambliss and other officials from the peanut industry gathered at Albany Technical College on South Slappey Boulevard Friday to talk peanuts at the annual Georgia Peanut Producers Association's buying point meeting.

The group discussed new legislation recently passed in the United States Congress, the 2007 Farm Bill, and ways to utilize the more than 2 million tons of peanuts expected to be harvested this year.

Chambliss said this year's crop is one of the largest ever seen. Terry Pickle, the Georgia Peanut Producers Association president, said the surplus can be credited to the fact that prices for commodities such as cotton and corn are down, making peanuts more attractive to farmers.

The trouble is, when peanut prices are lower — as they are now because of the surplus crops — they cost the government more as taxpayers are required to pay farmers for each ton of peanuts they produce.

Chambliss said that means peanuts might become a less-popular commodity in the eyes of those responsible for drafting and approving the new 2007 Farm Bill.

"If everybody ate as many peanuts as I do, we wouldn't have a problem — we'd have a shortage," Pickle said.

Not everyone realizes that peanuts are a "heart-healthy" food, he says.

However, because not everyone enjoys a handful of the brown legumes as a snack, J.C. Bell, the CEO of Tifton's Belle Plantation, said new products are being developed all the time to use the excess peanuts.

Bell said the oil extracted from peanuts can be used in salad dressings and cooking oil, and peanut flour can be used to make peanut pretzels, biscotti, bread and bagels.