PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. – Missouri farmers may have grown the peanuts that you enjoy in holiday candies like peanut brittle or peanut clusters.

In 2020, the USDA named Missouri a primary peanut-producing state, a designation for states averaging more than 10,000 tons of peanut production annually over three years, says Justin Calhoun, University of Missouri Extension soil and cropping systems specialist.

Calhoun is one of the researchers studying how to improve Missouri peanut production at the MU Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center in Portageville.

Most of the state’s peanut production is in southeastern Missouri. In the Bootheel’s sandy soils, peanuts thrive where other crops may struggle, he says.

The peanut is a low-input, profitable cash crop that improves soil health by adding nitrogen to the soil. Calhoun says peanuts are a “high ROI” crop with many benefits.

Like soybeans, peanuts are legumes that have a symbiotic relationship with rhizobacteria, which fix nitrogen in the soil, says Calhoun. They also contribute to pest control and can increase yields of cotton – another top crop in the Bootheel – and corn when rotated properly.

Missouri becomes primary player

Missouri has become a major producer in the peanut world in the past five years. Previously, production centered around the southern states of Georgia, Florida, Virginia and the Carolinas. In Calhoun’s three years at MU, the state’s peanut acres have more than doubled, with 20,000-22,000 acres reported in 2024.

Most of peanuts grown in the Bootheel are used for candy bars and peanut butter, says Calhoun.

“All of our peanuts in Missouri are contracted with a buying point as they are planted,” he says. “The overwhelming majority of those acres go to a company, Delta Peanut. A few acres go to another large peanut company called Birdsong,” says Calhoun.

From there, the buying points work with different groups to market those peanuts for various products. Many of Missouri’s peanuts are either grown for future seed production or sold to food companies.

The most common variety, Ga-06G, which is a type of peanut called a runner, is sold for consumption, primarily as peanut butter. They also can be roasted. Other runners like Ga-16HO and Ga-O9B are higher in oleic acid and better suited for peanut oil production.

Spanish hybrid varieties like Span 17 produce higher-quality peanuts that go to companies such as Mars, the maker of Snickers and other popular candy bars. High-oleic peanuts and the Spanish hybrid make up a minority of the Bootheel’s acreage, with the standard runner, O6G, being the heavy lifter.

There is a better market for Spanish-type peanuts, but the runners have higher yields and end up dominating the acreage, says Calhoun.

Harvest: Dig, flip, dry, shake

Harvesting peanuts is a two-step process. First, a digger machine pulls up the peanut plant, flips it over and sets it back down to dry. Then, a shaker or picker machine separates the peanut pods from the rest of the plant.

MU’s first experience with peanut production was in 2022 during Calhoun’s first season on the job. “Over the last three years, we’ve been fairly successful in growing a pretty sizable peanut research and extension program,” he says.

Checkoff dollars fund including three research projects that Calhoun oversees at the MU Delta Center.

2024 ornament honors peanut farmer Jimmy Carter

The official 2024 White House Christmas ornament honors the nation’s most famous peanut farmer, President Jimmy Carter, with part of the proceeds from sales going to provide peanut butter, a shelf-stable protein source, to food banks for the hungry. The design includes peanuts and peanut flowers. Learn more from the American Peanut Council at http://bit.ly/4eXwswp.

Photos

https://extension.missouri.edu/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/NewsAdmin/Photos/2024/20241203-peanuts-1.jpg
The peanut harvest at the MU Fisher Delta Research Center in Portageville is part of a research project to improve peanut production in the state. Missouri has become a major producer of peanuts for seed, peanut butter and candy. Photo courtesy of Justin Calhoun.

https://extension.missouri.edu/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/NewsAdmin/Photos/2024/20241203-peanuts-2.jpg
Peanuts provide valuable soil benefits and grow in sandy soils where other crops may struggle. Photo courtesy of Justin Calhoun.

https://extension.missouri.edu/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/NewsAdmin/Photos/2024/20241203-peanuts-3.jpg
In 2020, the USDA named Missouri a primary peanut-producing state, a designation for states averaging more than 10,000 tons of peanut production annually over three years. Photo courtesy of Justin Calhoun.

https://extension.missouri.edu/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/NewsAdmin/Photos/2024/20241203-peanuts-4.jpg
Harvesting peanuts is a two-step process. First, a digger machine pulls up the peanut plant, flips it over and sets it back down to dry. Then, a shaker or picker machine separates the peanut pods from the rest of the plant. Photo courtesy of Justin Calhoun.

Related content

“More Missouri Farmers Growing Peanuts,” https://moaes.missouri.edu/2022/10/more-missouri-farmers-growing-peanuts

Drone footage of peanut harvest in the Missouri Bootheel, https://youtu.be/X1ofFnHRS2c