The peanut, while grown in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, is native to the Western Hemisphere. It probably originated in South America and spread throughout the New World as Spanish explorers discovered the peanut’s versatility. When the Spaniards returned to Europe, peanuts went with them. Later, traders were responsible for spreading peanuts to Asia and Africa. The peanut made its way back to North America on sailing ships in the 1700’s. Although there were some commercial peanut farms in the U.S. during the 1700’s and 1800’s, peanuts were not grown extensively. This lack of interest in peanut farming is attributed to the fact that the peanut was regarded as food for the poor and because growing and harvesting techniques were slow and difficult. Until the Civil War, the peanut remained basically a regional food associated with the southern U.S.
After the Civil War, the demand for peanuts increased rapidly. By the end of the nineteenth century, the development of equipment for production, harvesting and shelling peanuts, as well as processing techniques, contributed to the expansion of the peanut industry. The new twentieth century labor-saving equipment resulted in a rapid demand for peanut oil, roasted and salted peanuts, peanut butter and confections.
APC offers the following ways to for members to get involved with the organization.
If you would like to learn more about any of these opportunities, please contact Peggy Disney using the following form.
The American Peanut Council has a robust and diverse board of directors that represents all segments of the peanut industry. APC’s executive committee is a subset of the board of directors.
| Name | Company | Officer | Caucus |
| Clint Piper | Golden Peanut | Chair | Sheller |
| Larry Don Womack | Texas Peanut Producers Board | Treasurer | Grower |
| Collins McNeill | M.C. McNeill & Co. LLC | Vice Chair | Allied |
| Joel Sirmon | Alabama Peanut Producers Association | Grower | |
| Ashley Collins | North Carolina Peanut Growers Association | Grower | |
| Philip Melvin | Florida Peanut Producers Association | Grower | |
| Neal Baxley | National Peanut Board | Grower | |
| Ryan Lepicier | National Peanut Board | Grower | |
| Rachel Thompson | Mars | Manufacturer | |
| Lauren Flexon | Luray Peanut Company | Manufacturer | |
| Kimmy Wernli | Crazy Richards | Manufacturer | |
| Charles Birdsong | Birdsong Peanut | Sheller | |
| Chris Chammoun | American Peanut Shellers Association | Sheller | |
| Mike Davis | Olam | Sheller | |
| Rachel Santos | Premium Peanut | Sheller |
Peanuts are a fun food which offer lots of learning opportunities, history, fun games and puzzles.
Georgia Peanut Commission's "Peanut Circus Club"
Virginia-Carolina Peanut Promotions' "Kid's Corner"
National Peanut Board's "Official Buddy McNutty site"
Nominations are now open for the 2026 Lifetime Achievement and Peanut Hall of Fame Awards. These distinguished honors recognize individuals who have demonstrated unwavering dedication and made significant contributions to the peanut industry and the American Peanut Council.
The awards ceremony will take place during the USA Peanut Congress held at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, FL. We invite you to nominate candidates who have made a lasting impact on the peanut industry and APC.
The APC Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual who has reached the pinnacle of their career in the peanut industry. The award recognizes an individual who has made extraordinary and sustained contributions to the peanut industry over a lifetime, including a history of involvement and impact on the industry and their communities. Recipients are widely recognized by their peers for a history of distinguished service that spans their entire career. The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed upon an individual by APC.
Nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award must include biographical information of the nominee, a list of industry achievements and any supporting documents, and reflect how the nominee meets the following criteria. Individuals may represent any segment of the U.S. peanut industry and need not have been involved in the American Peanut Council. Nominations will be reviewed and scored by the APC Executive Committee. The recipient will be honored at USA Peanut Congress.
Lifetime Achievement Award Criteria:
The individual must have served the peanut industry for 20 years or longer in one or more of the following areas:
Click here for the Lifetime Achievement Nomination Form
The APC Peanut Hall of Fame Award recognizes individual contributions to the peanut industry and specifically service to the American Peanut Council, which have been significant, substantial and long-standing. Members of the Hall of Fame have a demonstrated history of career achievement, sustained commitment to the advancement of the industry, personal service to benefit the industry, and significant contributions to APC through dedicated service and leadership. Nominees should exemplify APC’s core values of collaboration, leadership, innovation and service.
All APC members are invited to nominate candidates for the Hall of Fame. The nominations, which will be reviewed and scored by the APC Executive Committee, should include a summary of her his or her achievements and contributions to the peanut industry, including service to APC. Nominations must reflect the following criteria. The recipient will be honored at USA Peanut Congress.
Hall of Fame Criteria:
The individual must have been a member of APC for 10 or more years, with at least five years dedicated to service through leadership roles within APC. The individual must have demonstrated measurable, lasting and sustained results that have positively impacted the peanut industry and their community.
Click here for the Hall of Fame Nomination Form
Take a look at APC’s export promotion success stories from 2024, and a new one in 2025.
2025 Success Stories
In June 2025, the American Peanut Council was successful in achieving the discontinuation of a proposed international standard for aflatoxin levels in ready-to-eat (RTE) peanuts. The decision...
2024 Success Stories
In September 2024, the American Peanut Council led a multi-day trade mission to China focused on strengthening strategic relationships and gathering key market intelligence. This effort advanced the...
On October 11, 2004, the American Peanut Council celebrated World Peanut Day in Mexico City with an event that creatively combined fitness, nutrition and U.S. peanuts. Held at The Padel Company, the...
In 2024, the American Peanut Council launched a strategic allergy awareness campaign to promote early peanut introduction and build long-term demand in the Canadian market. Partnering with Food...
In 2024, the American Peanut Council advanced its European market strategy by partnering with top snack brands in Scandinavia, including KiMs (Denmark), Polly (Norway) and Taffel (Finland)—all...
In September 2024, the American Peanut Council launched a unique sports and nutrition education event at Nokono Shima Elementary and Middle Schools in Japan to promote U.S. peanuts and peanut butter....
In 2024, the American Peanut Council took important steps to deepen engagement with the global ready-to-use therapeutic and supplementary food (RUTF/RUSF) community. As part of this effort, APC...
U.S. peanuts fall into four basic types: Runner, Virginia, Spanish and Valencia. Each of these peanuts is distinctive in size and flavor. Other producing countries grow varieties with other names but are similar to the types described below.
Runners have become the dominant peanut type grown in the U.S. due to the introduction of the Florunner variety in the early 1970s, which was responsible for a spectacular increase in peanut yields. Runners have rapidly gained wide acceptance because of their attractive kernel size range; a high proportion of runners are used for peanut butter. Runners, grown mainly in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, account for more than 85% of total U.S. production.
Virginias have the largest kernels and account for most of the peanuts roasted and eaten as inshells. When shelled, the larger kernels are sold as salted or flavored peanuts. Virginias are grown mainly in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, South Carolina and West Texas. Virginia-type peanuts account for about 10% of total U.S. production.
Spanish-type peanuts have smaller kernels covered with a reddish-brown skin. They are used predominantly in peanut candy but are also used for salted nuts and peanut butter. Spanish peanuts have higher oil content than the other types of peanuts, which is advantageous when crushing for oil. The Ole Spanish variety was released in 2015 after extensive research and is high in oleic acid, a beneficial monounsaturated fatty acid; its high roasted peanut score and increased shelf life make it ideal for candy bars or for snack nuts. Spanish-type peanuts account for 2% of U.S. production.
Valencias usually have three or more small kernels to a pod. They are very sweet peanuts and are usually roasted and sold in the shell; they are excellent for fresh use as boiled peanuts. Valencias are also commonly used to make natural peanut butter. Due to greater demand for other varieties, Valencias account for less than 1% of U.S. production and are grown mainly in New Mexico.
Kids love to learn when learning is fun. Check out these educational resources for the classroom:
National Peanut Board's "Discover the Powerful Peanut", a collection of 12, easy to implement 3rd-5th grade activities that explore peanuts and peanut production.
National Peanut Board's "Classroom"
Virginia-Carolina's "Education Corner"
Alliance to Feed the Future's "For Educators"
Georgia Peanut Commission's "Resources for Teachers"
Export Promotion Success Stories
Peanuts are the seeds of an annual legume, which grows close to the ground and produces its fruit below the soil surface. U.S. peanuts are planted after the last frost in April or May when soil temperatures reach 65–70° Fahrenheit (20° Celsius). Conventional pre-plant tillage ensures a well-prepared seedbed, while some growers prefer some form of conservation tillage, which typically involves planting into a winter cover crop or previous crop residue. Seeds are planted one and a half to two inches (four to five centimeters) deep, one every two to four inches (5–10 centimeters) in the Southeast and Southwest, and four to six inches (10–15 centimeters) in the Virginia-Carolina area, in rows about three feet (one meter) apart. The row spacing is determined to a large extent by the type of planting and harvesting equipment utilized.
Peanuts may be cultivated once or twice (depending on region) to control broadleaf weeds and grasses. A climate with 200 frost-free days (175 days for Spanish varieties) is required for a good crop. Warm weather conditions, adequate moisture, and fertile, sandy soil result in the appearance of peanut leaves in 10–14 days after planting. Farmers generally follow a three-year rotation pattern, typically with cotton, corn or small grains planted on the same acreage in intervening years to reduce disease problems. In addition, many farmers utilize irrigation in an effort to reduce crop stress and thereby enhance opportunities for the production of high quality peanuts.
Integrated pest management is utilized in order to control weeds, diseases, and insects. Diseases caused primarily by several fungal organisms are particularly troublesome and generally require chemical control. Weeds are controlled using either chemical or mechanical methods, or a combination of the two. Despite numerous potential pest problems, organic peanuts are available and most commonly grown in the drier western peanut growing regions.
The peanut harvesting process occurs in two stages. Digging, which is the first stage, begins when samples indicate maximum maturity. Early or late digging results in lower yields and a lower percentage of mature pods. Mature peanuts have the best flavor. At optimum soil moisture, a digger proceeds along the rows of peanut plants driving a horizontal blade four to six inches (10–15 centimeters) under the soil. The digger loosens the plant and cuts the taproot. A shaker lifts the plant from the soil, gently shakes the soil from the peanut pods and inverts the plant. A windrow of inverted plants results, thus exposing the pods to the sun. The peanuts are now ready for the second phase of the harvest — combining. After drying in the field for two or three days, a peanut combine (also known as a thresher) separates the pods from the vines, placing the peanut pods into a hopper on the top of the machine. The vines are returned to the field to improve soil fertility and organic matter. Freshly harvested peanut pods are then placed into drying wagons for further curing, with forced hot air slowly circulating through the wagons. In the curing process, moisture content is reduced to 8–10% for safe storage.
Please click here to view a recent presentation on Peanut Growing & Harvesting.
Backed by the entire peanut industry, Sustainable U.S. Peanuts (SUSP) was launched in 2020 to give growers a voluntary platform to share their sustainable farming practices. Powered by real data from peanut growers, SUSP helps tell the story of U.S. peanut sustainability—an essential step in remaining competitive in both domestic and global markets.
Heading into its fifth year, SUSP has grown from a simple idea into a thriving initiative, reaching record levels of participation from growers throughout the peanut belt.
While the progress has been incredible, there’s still important work ahead. In the coming few years, we must continue gathering grower data to ensure SUSP represents enough acres and participants to be recognized and trusted by manufacturers.
Your support can make a real difference. Please consider donating to Sustainable U.S. Peanuts to help us maintain this vital momentum.
For more information on how to donate, please contact:
More than ever, consumers are demanding food that isn’t just good for them, but that is also good for the environment. Peanut farmers are committed to growing a nutritious, sustainable crop that will support sustainable livelihoods for generations to come.
The U.S. peanut industry understands that sustainability is the future. That’s why peanut farmers are continuously working to improve water conservation, fertilizer and chemical use, and land resource management. Having solid data about our sustainability practices is critical to being able to tell our story.
That’s the goal of Sustainable U.S. Peanuts. We’ve built a data-collection platform to create the transparency that will serve the entire supply chain; from the people who love to grow peanuts, to the people who love to eat them. That’s sustainability in a nutshell.
How to register for U.S. Sustainable PeanutsSBxhAAxMKNE
To learn more, download our factsheet, or visit www.sustainableuspeanuts.org
