UNCOVERING TREASURE.

• Date: 01 March 2022
• Author: Saylor, Teri

Consumers want more peanuts and products made from them. That's putting North Carolina farmers and their bumper crop in a sweet spot.

Brad West is a fifth-generation farmer in the Wayne County community of Fremont. He and his family work about 6,000 acres. They grow a variety of crops, including cotton, sweet potatoes, com and soybeans, and have a small community strawberry patch. They raise turkeys and pigs, too. "This was my great-great grandfather's farm," he says. "I come from several generations of farmers, so I guess when I grew up, it was kind of a no brainer that I would get into the family business. I didn't know anything else."

West and his family have been growing peanuts on 1,200 acres since 2007. He describes his 2021 crop as "above average." He isn't alone. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that 2021 was a near-record year for peanuts. North Carolina farmers, for example, harvested 114,000 acres, 9,000 acres more than the year prior. The yield per acre of 4,350 pounds exceeded the 2020 estimate by 450 pounds and the state's 10-year average by almost 350 pounds. And, at 496 million pounds, the state's peanut production increased 21 % from the year prior.

March is National Peanut Month, and North Carolina peanut growers and lovers have...