Georgia Peanut Commission applauds peanut grade rule change

TIFTON — The commission that represents Georgia peanut growers on Friday applauded a U.S. Department of Agriculture rule change that raises a grading score used to classify peanuts as segregation 2.

The rule, which is set to go into effect Feb. 1, implements a recommendation from the Peanut Standards Board that raises the percentage of damaged kernels in farmer stock peanuts from 2.49 percent to 3.49 percent before they are classified as segregation 2.

Under current rules, farmer stock peanuts (picked and threshed peanuts that have not been shelled, crushed, cleaned or changed except for removal of foreign material, loose-shelled kernels and excess moisture) are listed as segregation 2 if they have more than 2.49 percent damaged kernels or more than 1 percent concealed damage and are free from visible Aspergillus flavus, a fungus that produces aflatoxin.

Peanuts that have visible Aspergillus flavus are placed in segregation 3, which are inedible and can only be crushed.

Segregation 2 peanuts, meanwhile, can be cleaned up to meet edible standards or be crushed. They don’t attract the same prices as segregation 1 peanuts.

While officials with the Georgia Peanut Commission — a peanut farmer-elected board that promotes peanuts and provides education in the crop — say segregation 2 peanuts comprise less and 1 percent of the nation’s crop in a growing season, and a farmer whose production falls into the segregation 2 category can be devastated financially. They also noted that the change in the rule does not adversely impact food safety.

“I applaud efforts by USDA to update the peanut standards and raise the grading score,” Armond Morris, an Irwin County grower who chairs the Peanut Commission, said Friday. “A farmer having a majority of their crop graded as segregation 2 is an economic devastation which could lead to bankruptcy while the true value seems to be significantly higher.

“This change will greatly reduce the burden on peanut growers. A similar action was granted to the peanut processors last year on outgoing regulations, so it only makes sense growers should be afforded the same revision in the rules.”

Officials with the grower board said challenging weather conditions have increased the percentage of peanuts that grade segregation 2. This adjustment to the minimum quality and handling standards for domestic and imported peanuts marketed in the United States will not affect the quality of peanuts being delivered to the market, they said.

The revisions were necessary because of changes made in the 2002 U.S. farm bill’s peanut provisions, which had significant changes in moving farmers from the old quota program to the current peanut program. The definitions of peanut classifications for farmer stock peanuts were not changed, though the definition for what farmer stock peanuts could be used in the domestic edible channel was changed.

The Peanut Standards Board, which was authorized under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, consists of 18 members representing the peanut growing regions of the U.S. USDA consults with the board to establish or change quality and handling standards for domestically produced and imported peanuts.