Premium Peanut was founded in 2014 and currently operates the largest shelling facility in the world in Douglas, GA. It is a cooperative which consists of more than 200 grower-owners and has over eleven buying points. They are designed with the purposes to integrate the peanut production process, stabilize the market for growers in the region, and ensure a stable supply of peanuts at a competitive cost. Premium Peanut’s shelling facility has a stunning production capacity of 300,000 tons of peanuts per year, equating to roughly 30 tons of peanuts being shelled per hour. Not only do they sport such an impressive shelling facility, but they also underwent expansion in 2018 to add a $14 million filtered crude peanut oil facility which can produce over 3 million gallons of peanut oil per year. It is safe to say this cooperative is a staple in the heart of south Georgia, the region where we grow the bulk of our peanuts as the #1 peanut state in the nation.

At Premium Peanut, the leadership team is very passionate about sustainability. As a cooperative that shells more peanuts than any other facility in the world within the state that produces almost 50% of our nation’s peanut supply, they take it as their responsibility to be the leader and role model of sustainability practices in peanut farming. They are firm believers in protecting valuable resources for future generations and work hard to maximize output while maintaining economic viability. Premium Peanut strives to operate with a zero-waste policy and they do so by giving shells to other farmers who like to use the biomaterial for other uses or even keeping the stones that they sort out from batches of peanuts and providing them back to farmers to use for projects.

Premium Peanut is proud to conduct their work with cutting-edge technology that is revolutionizing the way we farm in the 21st century. Their Satake orbital sorters are able to sort peanuts based on size, shape, and color by detecting color just like a human eye, based on red, blue and green wavelengths.

As a cooperative, the growers that have their peanuts shelled at Premium Peanut are also shareholders in the company. They have over 350 shareholders located in 30 counties across South Georgia and only shell Georgia-grown peanuts. They’re also centrally located within 115 miles of all their buying points.

As a student who studies Agriscience and Environmental Systems in CAES, I’m excited to take a look at this astonishing technology that prepares a staple Georgia-grown crop to be sold to consumers at such an effective and efficient manner. I love researching agronomy and learning more about how it is enhanced with precision agriculture and this stop seems like the perfect place to learn more about that. I look forward to stopping by Premium Peanut and exploring how they help make the Peanut State such a vital contributor to agriculture not only in our own country, but in the world.

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