Peanut co-op named Agri-Business of the Year

Published 12:59 pm Wednesday, December 7, 2005

TIFTON — Tifton Quality Peanut Cooperation was recently chosen as the South Georgia Business Magazine’s Agri-Business of the Year.

TQP is a peanut grower-owned cooperative with facilities located off U.S. Highway 41 South. The facility’s first shelling season began in August, and growers are expected to bring 75,000 tons of peanuts there this season.

The idea for the state-of-the-art facility began three years ago when farmers began to question how they could get more money for their crop. The cooperative is considered one of the largest industrial investments made in Tift County in 10 years.

There are 146 peanut growers who own stock in the company. The facility employs up to 50 people during the peak shelling season and the economic impact to the area stretches beyond the farmers.

The facility can process up to 20 tons of peanuts per hour and 90,000 tons per year. Once shelled in the 85-foot-high, 170-foot-wide polyester dome, the nuts are stored in two additional domes. The air is sucked out of the domes and then the domes are nitrogen flushed.

The process of removing the oxygen prevents aflatoxins because there is no condensation and the process also rids the storage area of rodents and other pests who would harm the quality of the peanuts.

The South Georgia Business Magazine is published bi-monthly and features businesses and industries in the region.