Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Florida Peanut Facts



I LOVE FL Peanuts! The county I live in is #3 on the map (Levy) and it ranks third in the state of Florida for peanut production.

Just thought I'd share!

Production Facts

*Florida ranks 6th nationally in peanut production

*The southeast is the largest production region in the United States, with Florida producing approximately 6 percent of the total crop.

*A total of 102,000 acres of peanut were planted during the 1999 production season in Florida. Of this acreage, approximately 94,000 acres were harvested, with an average yield of approximately 2,800 pounds per acre. The remaining 8,000 acres planted to peanut were either harvested as green nuts, cut for hay, used as pasture, or abandoned (5). A total of more than 263 million pounds of peanut were produced, with a value of $0.23 per pound and a total value of more than $61 million (29).

*The U.S. produces four types of peanut: runner, Virginia, Spanish, and Valencia. Each type is distinctive in size and flavor. Of these, the runner type is the most common in Florida production. The runner type comprises 75 percent of total United States production (3).
A high proportion of runner peanut is used in peanut butter.

* Approximately 50 percent of all peanuts produced are used in peanut butter, 20 percent are for salted nuts, 16 percent are used in peanut candy, 7 percent are sold in-shell, and the remainder are used in other small markets.

3 comments:

Melanie said...

Damon got his favorite boiled peanuts on his trip to Charleston. Good southern boy.

Kara said...

I hate nuts! Peanuts are definitely the best nut, though. I like a little peanut butter, too.

Amy said...

I like me some nuts, too. ;-)