Smithville Peanut Company, owned and operated by McCleskey Mills, is known for maintaining a relationship with the grower. With approximately 18,985 acres of peanuts planted in the area, the buying point has a lot of peanuts to handle and they are at a maximum. Growing up on the farm, I’ve seen peanuts being planted and picked but after they are taken out of the field on trailers what happens to them? The trailers take them to the buying point where they receive, weigh, clean, dry, inspect, grade and prepare peanuts for storage and shelling. Peanuts must be cleaned thoroughly because they come out of the field with a lot of foreign material such as sticks, grass, and dirt. When the peanuts enter the buying point the moisture level is approximately 15-20%. The drying process, which takes about 24 hours, drops it down to around 8% or lower. This prepares them for storage and shelling, which will then be transformed into candy, peanut butter and other tasty peanut treats.
