About

Sustainable U.S. Peanuts Initiative

Peanut growers have a great sustainability story to tell, and the Sustainable U.S. Peanuts Initiative is helping them tell it. In its fourth year, the initiative supports America’s peanut industry with metrics on the most efficient use of production resources, as well as encourages farm operation sustainability practices that will help meet customer expectations, lead to increased demand for peanuts and set the stage for long-term economic viability.

Develop a protocol to verify that peanuts are grown responsibly and by using good agricultural practices accepted by the industry.

Utilize a common data collection platform in collaboration with the cotton industry to make participation as efficient as possible for growers of both crops by avoiding duplication of data entry.

Provide environmental metrics for communication to domestic and international customers, with the assurance that a random sample of growers has been verified.

Communicate best practices and success stories derived from the Sustainable U.S. Peanuts Initiative and other reliable sources to industry stakeholders and their customers.

Drive continuous improvement of farm sustainability and profitability by working collaboratively with shellers, buying points, processors, manufacturers, growers, extension, state grower associations, and other industry groups to find areas of improvement.

Develop the framework proactively so that we can navigate our own course as an industry and avoid having an unfamiliar framework imposed upon the U.S. peanut industry.

What is the benefit of participating to growers?

For peanut growers to be productive and profitable, the industry will need to increase demand for peanuts, and in our current market one of the biggest drivers for demand is quickly becoming sustainability. Because consumers are demanding sustainable food production practices, manufacturers, retailers and our international trading partners have the same expectations. To be competitive, both domestically and internationally, the industry will need to prove and document peanut sustainability, which is the goal of the industry. Further, growers gain insights on their practices, with the confidence that data is aggregated and anonymized for industry reporting.

Sustainable U.S. Peanuts Initiative

The American Peanut Council (APC) launched its nationwide sustainability initiative in late 2021, building on a pilot undertaken by the National Peanut Board and the Georgia Peanut Commission. The new initiative will build on this pilot, incorporating the Fieldprint Platform metrics for peanuts from Field to Market, and adding new elements such as a self-assessment questionnaire using a data collection platform for growers. The objectives for the initiative are:

Develop a protocol to verify that peanuts are grown responsibly and by using good agricultural practices accepted by the industry.

Develop a protocol to verify that peanuts are grown responsibly and by using good agricultural practices accepted by the industry.

Utilize a common data collection platform in collaboration with the cotton industry to make participation as efficient as possible for growers of both crops by avoiding duplication of data entry.

Utilize a common data collection platform in collaboration with the cotton industry to make participation as efficient as possible for growers of both crops by avoiding duplication of data entry.

Provide environmental metrics for communication to domestic and international customers, with the assurance that a random sample of growers has been verified.

Provide environmental metrics for communication to domestic and international customers, with the assurance that a random sample of growers has been verified.

Communicate best practices and success stories derived from the Sustainable U.S. Peanuts Initiative and other reliable sources to industry stakeholders and their customers.

Communicate best practices and success stories derived from the Sustainable U.S. Peanuts Initiative and other reliable sources to industry stakeholders and their customers.

Drive continuous improvement of farm sustainability and profitability by working collaboratively with shellers, buying points, processors, manufacturers, growers, extension, state grower associations, and other industry groups to find areas of improvement.

Drive continuous improvement of farm sustainability and profitability by working collaboratively with shellers, buying points, processors, manufacturers, growers, extension, state grower associations, and other industry groups to find areas of improvement.

Develop the framework proactively so that we can navigate our own course as an industry and avoid having an unfamiliar framework imposed upon the U.S. peanut industry.

Develop the framework proactively so that we can navigate our own course as an industry and avoid having an unfamiliar framework imposed upon the U.S. peanut industry.