Congressman Jack Kingston - First District of Georgia

Washington, May 9, 2006 -

Congressman Jack Kingston (R/Ga) today introduced a measure to aid Georgia’s peanut farmers by continuing the storage and handling fees program through next year. The bipartisan amendment, supported by Reps. Sanford Bishop (D/Ga) and Allen Boyd (D/Fl), was approved unanimously by the House Appropriations Committee during discussion on the Agriculture funding bill.

“This amendment would simply continue the peanut storage and handling fees program through 2007 without costing anything in this year’s budget,” Congressman Kingston said. “Georgia is the largest peanut producing state in the nation. While it sounds simple, without this amendment, Georgia peanut farmers could lose $42 million over the next two years.”

The new peanut program authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill allowed farmers to transition from the old, depression-era quota system to a program similar to those used for other commodities. In order for the new system to work, farmers have to be able to store their peanuts in a way that will keep them from perishing so that they have more options for marketing their crop.

“Unlike many other crops, peanuts can't just be stored on the farm,” Congressman Kingston explained. “They have to have specialized handling and storage by knowledgeable warehouse operators to preserve them.”

The 2002 Farm Bill included storage and handling through this year. Today’s amendment would extend this until the Farm Bill is reauthorized in 2008. Because payments would be made after harvest in the 2008 Fiscal year, this amendment does not have a cost for the 2007 Fiscal year.

The amendment has the support of peanut producers, shellers and warehouses from across the country.