Good news on the peanut market according to the analysis by USDA.
Farmers have planted 1.5 million acres of peanuts this season. That is down 22 percent from last year, mainly due to suppressed prices from large carry-on stocks from last year. They said as a result the peanut stocks and processing is revising their numbers.
They said food use is revised up to 3.4 billion pounds. That’s a seven percent growth increase if it holds true. All but peanut candy consumption categories are all well ahead of last year.
For example, peanut snacks are up 12 percent. Use of peanut butter use is up six percent, and roasted stocks are also up 15 percent, while candy is down about two percent. In addition, they said the consumption might well be more than that for the coming year because of the rise of high protein diets that are being emphasized by producers.
They said peanuts are a low-cost protein source right now and is available to the public. They predict growth in peanut consumption is expected to continue but may slow a little bit during the summertime. They are forecast to increase consumption this coming year.
Average price to farmers is 24 cents a pound.
Audio Reporting by Tyron Spearman for Southeast AgNet.