Approximately 80 percent of Arkansas’s peanut crop remains in the ground with no immediate storage solution after Delta Peanut, the state’s largest processing facility, lost its federal warehouse bond. The development has left around 90 farmers across northeastern Arkansas scrambling to find alternative options as the region’s harvest window closes.
State law requires harvested peanuts to be processed, dried, and stored in federally bonded warehouses. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture revoked Delta Peanut’s bond due to financial constraints, leaving the Jonesboro-based facility unable to meet this crucial requirement. Without a bonded facility nearby, the state’s peanut farmers say they are facing a critical situation.
“These 90 growers do not have a home for this crop that’s in the ground right now,” said Allan Donner, president of the Arkansas Peanut Growers Association. “They have to be dried, they have to be handled, and they have to go in a federally bonded warehouse to store them.”
Other options within the state are limited. Birdsong Peanuts, located in Portia, operates Arkansas’s only other major processing facility, but it is already running at full capacity. Farmers would need to transport peanuts over 350 miles to the nearest out-of-state bonded warehouse, a costly logistical option with current high diesel prices.
Growers, who have invested heavily in this year’s crop over the past six months, face steep financial risks if the peanuts cannot be harvested on time. Donovan warned that yields could begin to decline within two to three weeks if the peanuts remain untended in the fields. Additionally, exposure to heavy rain or freezing temperatures after harvest could render the crop unsellable.
Efforts to mitigate the problem are underway. According to Donner, Delta Peanut is exploring the possibility of securing a temporary operator for its Jonesboro facility this season, potentially bringing in an out-of-state company to manage the crop.
Members of Arkansas’s congressional delegation, including Representative Rick Crawford and Senator John Boozman, are also getting involved. They are working to facilitate discussions between lenders and federal regulators to address the issue.
“We have extended help from Representative Crawford and Boozman both to see what they can help facilitate the USDA side of it,” Donner said. “It’s something that we hate to see go away, and so we hope that this will be facilitated so we can get our crop out.”
For now, farmers across Region 8 remain in a race against time, weather, and logistical challenges as they seek a resolution before yields begin to diminish.