Dec. 15, 2011 - After the worst year that Texas peanut farmers -- and nearly every other kind of farmer -- have ever seen, the peanut industry has not lost the spirit of the holidays After not getting any rain, very few nuts and little or no money, a charity that depends on peanut butter for its survival received an unsolicited donation from the peanut industry this year.
Mark Moore, who runs a company called MANA that makes a peanut butter-based therapeutic food for malnourished children, was touched enough by the donation to call the Texas Peanut Producers Board to thank them. As it turns out, the board had not made the donation, but Shelly Nutt, president of the board, said she understands the impulse on the part of the people who did donate, the Southwest Peanut Shellers Association, because it is in line with what she sees in the industry all the time.
"The message is still the same," Nutt said. "Those people (the shellers) are hurting, too. I was at one of the shelling facilities at a time when they should have had trucks rolling in and out and everything at full production, but there were no trucks rolling in and the warehouse was virtually empty."
Nutt said that production was going to be down this year anyway because a lot of farmers chose to go with cotton, corn or other crops that were bringing record or near record highs on the market. Those who did plant peanuts didn't receive enough rain to make a crop.
"Peanuts are under irrigation, but it's normally supplemental. This year, a lot of growers never pulled off their wells. We had wells go dry. We had producers who had to decide whether to irrigate their cotton or their peanuts -- which one was going to bring the most? We were digging up plants in August and September and there were no nuts underneath. The plants looked fine, but there were not nuts. Most people ended up baling their peanuts for hay."
Moore at MANA knew all that because his company buys a lot of peanut butter.
"I recently had a humbling reminder of what generosity might look like," he wrote on his blog earlier this month, noting the donation that he attributed to the peanut board. "Given the drought that has decimated Texas agriculture in general and the peanut industry in particular, I was more than a little surprised.
"I called to thank them, assuring them I knew that this was the worst year in their history. 'It's been a terrible year,' they said. 'For us, a year like this means hard times and drought, and even bankruptcy for some. But for the children who eat your peanut butter food, it's been a calamity and a catastrophe. Life or death. We know this, so we did what we could.'"
Nutt said she talked to Moore and they both noted how generous the peanut industry has always been.
"After the earthquake in Haiti, peanut processors had peanut butter shipped there on a cargo plane and ready for the people just 36 hours after the quake," she said. "In Lamesa, one woman decided she wanted to do something to help out the peanut industry this year and so she called all the businesses she could think of that had anything to do with the peanut industry and raised $10,000 to send to the group."
The peanut crop in Georgia, though not down as much as the Texas crop, still had some drought and heat issues that affected yield. Other suppliers, like Argentina, also had off years. The result has been and will continue to be higher prices for peanut butter.
"We're seeing that happen," Nutt said. "That jar of peanut butter in the grocery store has gone up to $5 from $4, and it will probably go higher. But peanut butter still delivers a great nutritional bang for the buck. I think that's one reason we haven't seen a big drop in consumption.
"We realize this is still the best product for hungry people. It's still relatively inexpensive, it requires no heating or electricity or running water. It's hard to get your mind around the fact that we have people who are without those basics. It's been a hard year for growers and the industry, but the message is still the same."
