Peanuts are a big business in Georgia and really impacts every aspect of our economy.
Just looking at the farm gate value and the production value, it's over a two billion
dollar industry. And if you add in the value of the equipment manufacturers, the food processors,
it's even more than that. So the peanut industry in Georgia it's vitally important, and it actually
contributes more than 50,000 jobs in Georgia. When we come up with new ways to utilize peanuts,
it's just a never-ending cycle that continues to grow and expand. And it's really important
to all of Georgia's economy. Georgia farmers produce around 50 percent of
all the peanuts in the United States and that number does fluctuate some years, more or less,
but on average it's around 50 percent every year. Traditionally Georgia peanuts are grown
in the southern part of Georgia. Really it's below the fall line and so there's around 76 counties
that grow peanuts and we have around 4,500 peanut farmers across the state of Georgia. The peanut
industry in Georgia encompasses so many job opportunities. You do have the farmers that
produce and grow the peanuts, but then you also have the workers at the local peanut buying points
which is the first point where farmers actually sell their peanuts. And then you have employees
of peanut shelling plants, blanchers. You have equipment manufacturers that are making equipment
for farmers to use, but also for shellers in addition to other agriculture equipment.
And then you have food processors that are developing all the wonderful food products that we
get from peanuts and peanut butter, our two best sellers fried peanuts and peanut brittle,
plus the peanut butter ice cream that's got the secret ingredient in it. We use only local peanuts
and all our peanuts come from local farmers here in Georgia. President Carter was a peanut farmer,
and he owned the peanut warehouse. But then we had no retail out in Plains that could buy peanuts.
And so I thought well good time to start one. And now we sell our products all over the
United States. We ship, and we got we got jobbers that sell our products in six different states.
And of course every peanut we sell is one more peanut the farmer's got to produce,
and so it helps the farmers out and the economy out of Plains. Not only are peanuts important to
Georgia's economy by the domestic consumption within the US, but peanuts from Georgia are
also exported around the world. And some of our top buyers where peanuts are exported to
include Mexico, Canada, the European Union, as well as China and Japan. And a lot of those
peanuts are exported out of the Port of Savannah. The great thing about peanuts is they're the
right kind of protein and they're easy to ship. They're easy to process and they're great to eat.
And so it's the cheapest way to get protein to a world that needs it. MANA is mother administered
nutritive aid. It's these little packets of peanut butter that look like an oversized
ketchup packet, and they're made for kids who are severely acutely malnourished.
It restores them back to their normal health, and so we make it at a plant here in Georgia using
Georgia peanuts and ship it off all over the world to feed kids who are malnourished. One
thing we didn't expect when we started MANA was the impact that we would have on our local
community. Now we're one of the biggest employers in our town. It was kind of a pleasant surprise
that our impact that we thought would be far off from the other side of the world is not just
on the other side of the world but it's making a difference right here in Georgia. And families are
being transformed and changed here in Georgia too. Georgia peanuts are so popular within the state
that they're also celebrated through a variety of peanut festivals. The cities of Brooklet, Plains,
Sylvester, and Blakely, Georgia all celebrate Georgia's peanuts through a festival each year
recognizing and honoring the farmers that grow the delicious peanuts. I don't think Georgia would
be the state she is without the peanut industry and agriculture. And we know that here in Plains
the ultimate goal of the peanut festival is to celebrate our past and our present. It's to make
those farmers know in our area in particular that we're proud of what they do. Every one of these
stores will be open and there are some of these stores that during the peanut festival weekend
can generate income that it takes them a month and a half to two months to do otherwise. We had one
year where they estimate about 3,000 people came through. It contributes to the economy in Plains
and that's a good thing. We also have those that are involved in the peanut industry by studying
research and looking for ways that farmers can be more sustainable on the farm and continually
to increase their yield and production. But then we have those like me that's involved with
communications that help educate farmers about the research projects and ways they can improve
things on their farm. But also promote peanuts to consumers and let them know about all the health
and nutritional benefits of consuming peanuts and peanut butter. Americans actually consume enough
peanut butter each year to cover the floor of the grand canyon. Through the years, peanut production
in Georgia has continued to increase and Georgia farmers produce nearly half of all the peanuts
and sometimes even more than half of all the peanuts in the United States. In 1995
the General Assembly in Georgia passed the peanut as Georgia's official state crop. And one of the
main reasons was just the overall importance to Georgia's economy, and it just continues to grow
as new products are developed and new ways to strengthen the overall US peanut economy.