Peanut Market Quiet as Farmers Await Harvest and Tariff Decisions
The U.S. peanut market is currently in a holding pattern as growers across the peanut belt wait to assess what kind of crop is growing beneath the soil. Despite increased peanut acreage in 2025, both domestic and export markets are slow to move.
“The peanut market is very quiet right now as farmers are waiting to find out what kind of crop they have under the ground because they’ve been treating these peanuts. They’re up about 7.5 percent on the increase in the acreage across the peanut belt, showing more increase. Georgia had about a 6.9 percent increase.”
Contracting is part of the uncertainty this season, as only partial pricing has been offered to growers:
“The contract started this year around $500 on half of your peanuts, but there has not been another contract on the other half, and therefore they’re going to be limited to the loan program, which is about $355 per ton. So the market’s very quiet.”
The export market is also in limbo as buyers remain hesitant due to pending tariff decisions:
“Export market’s also very quiet as the buyers have backed off waiting on the tariffs to apply and how much will they have to pay on tariffs if they buy peanuts from America. So that is slowing down the export market. The top buyer, of course, is Mexico. The other one is Canada. They continue to operate and their tariffs have been delayed. Many are hoping there’ll be zero tariffs on those two markets because they’re the top two markets for American peanuts. The third one is China, and China’s also backed off the market. Their deal on tariffs has not been completed. So the export market’s slow. The domestic market’s slow.”
With so much in flux, including weather, pricing, and export policy, peanut growers may find themselves relying more on domestic consumption to help move the crop:
“We’re just going to have to eat more peanuts as we get ready to bring this crop to the warehouses.”