Crops & Livestock | Farm

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How a Florida Farmer Grows Peanuts

Peanut farm
Photo credit: Mickey Diamond

They’re like a gentle breeze welcoming you to summer – those hand-lettered, cardboard signs with three simple words: “Hot Boiled Peanuts.”

It signals something delicious ahead. Soon, you’ll see a canopy for shade and someone tending a steaming pot over a propane burner. If you’re smart, you’ll slow down and pull in for a heaping scoop of pliable shells with soft, salty kernels inside.

Nearby Origins

These corner roadside stands are sprinkled throughout the state but are especially prevalent on routes to Northwest Florida beaches. And there’s a good reason: The Panhandle has some of the best conditions for growing peanuts in America.

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Santa Rosa County, particularly, is highly valued by candymakers and popular nut brands, according to Florida peanut farmer Joseph “Mickey” Diamond.

The northwest part of the state, with the famed Emerald Coast beaches along its southern border, has peanuts sown in much of its rich soil to the north.

“Santa Rosa County is known for its peanuts and always has been,” says Diamond, a third-generation farmer. His 1,600-acre JM Diamond Farm is located in Jay, about an hour north of Pensacola. The property has been in his family since 1916, and from his peanut fields, you can just about see the Alabama state line.

Photo of Mickey Diamond on his peanut farm
Mickey Diamond, right, grows peanuts in Santa Rosa County, an area highly valued by candymakers and popular nut brands for its rich soil. Florida’s peanut crop is typically harvested in the fall, about four to five months after planting. Photo credit: Matthew Coughlin

Peanut Partnerships

Proximity to the state’s northern border has worked in Diamond’s favor. About eight years ago, he and other farmers in nearby states forged a cooperative-type partnership to create a farmer-owned peanut buying point. This past March, Diamond and about 100 other farmers became part owners in a peanut shelling plant being built in nearby Atmore, Alabama.

“Our buying point, Escambia Peanut Company, will be delivering to that shelling plant,” Diamond says. Coastal Growers LLC will shell, store and market peanuts to end users, allowing local farmers to capture substantial value in their peanut crop by vertically integrating their operations.

See more: Farm Facts: Peanuts

Before they started these cooperative-type arrangements, peanuts left the farmer’s hands and were gone, Diamond explains. “It’s just another way to know where my peanuts are going and to help the bottom line,” he says.

Partnering among farmers has been advantageous for Diamond’s farm operations as well.

“We’re kind of unique in this area,” he says. “Come harvesttime, three of us neighbors pool labor and equipment. The way we plant, we can pretty well time it to know whose [peanuts] to pick and we get a crop out in a hurry.”

They also get their crews together at less critical times for fellowship. “If it rains,” he says, “everybody comes to my barn, and we cook fish or deer or something.”

They have a chance to visit in more of a relaxed atmosphere. “We all learn from each other,” he says.

 

Peanut farm
Photo credit: Mickey Diamond

Nuts About Peanut Butter

It’s probably no surprise to learn that peanuts are a mainstay in American diets.

“It’s one of the cheapest forms of protein and the best for you out there,” Diamond says. “If the economy goes down, moms make more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

Runner peanuts, the most common variety grown in Florida, have been the dominant type grown in the U.S. since their introduction in the early 1970s, according to the Florida Peanut Producers Association. Runners are primarily used to make peanut butter.

During the pandemic, peanuts were in high demand, and some grocery shelves saw peanut butter shortages. The increase in sales was welcomed, Diamond says, as it boosted prices a bit.

“This is the first year in a long time that farmers really had a choice of what to plant and commodities were up,” he says.

Creamy Peanut Butter in a Bowl
Photo credit: iStock/bhofack2

Conservation and Connections

Like most farmers, Diamond’s farm is diversified: Half of his acreage is cotton and the other is peanuts. It smooths out some of the rough edges.

Technology has helped, as has new farming methods. Diamond was an early adopter of conservation practices, which have helped preserve his land. He and some neighboring farmers first tried strip-tilling as early as the 1980s, a system that combines no-till and full tillage by tilling narrow strips but leaving the area between rows undisturbed. Today, his farm is now 100% strip-tilled. He’s also been planting cover crops since the 1990s to help enrich and protect the soil.

See more: Why Florida Is a Food Lover’s Paradise

“Our cover crops are quite intense,” he says. “We grow 6 feet tall and roll it down with a roller and plant into that.”

But it’s really the relationships that keep him farming, which includes connecting with his employees.

“Labor is something that’s hard to come by, but I have three of the finest employees (two full and one part time),” Diamond says. They enable him to take time away from the operations to serve on industry boards and handle details to keep the farm profitable. Still, he prefers to be hands-on.

“When you’re the farmer, you don’t always get time in the tractor seat,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll just stop and say, ‘Y’all go find something to do, I’m getting in the tractor.’”

Counting on Peanuts

13%: Percentage of the U.S. peanut crop grown in Florida

540: Number of peanuts it takes to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter

$179 million: Value of peanuts exported from the U.S. to Canada

185,000: Acres of peanuts grown in Florida

75%: Percentage of Florida-grown peanuts used for peanut butter (the balance is for snack nuts, candy, peanut oil and next year’s seed)

Sources: Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, Florida Peanut Producers Association, National Peanut Board