Cooperative Living October 2020 - 18

From there traders took them to Spain and
the New World. Colonial traders used the
peanuts as food aboard ships as they were
cheap and of high food value.
Digging in the Dirt
(continued from page 15)
think of Lucy Ricardo working the
chocolate factory line.
That's a thing of the past, Jimmy
Laine says, thanks to an electronic
eye that represents one of Wakefield
Peanut's major investments. The camera
device monitors peanuts as they pass
along a conveyor belt. If it detects a flaw
- a broken shell or residue - it shoots
out a gust of air in real-time to blast the
defective peanut from the good ones.
" We used to have five or six people
sitting in the picking room. There's
nobody in there now, " he says. " This
is the best thing we've ever done. "
Raw peanuts are sampled and graded
by federal and state graders in 500-gram
batches to determine the quality and
value of each load. That's critical -
a broken hull can cost a farmer 15
to 20 cents a pound. Overall, the prices
farmers receive for their produce varies
widely, but nationally, Virginia peanuts
brought about 22 cents a pound in
August, according to the USDA.
Once the peanuts are in Wakefield
Peanut's possession, it's time for Steve
Laine to put on his cooking smock. He
routinely rises at 6 a.m. from the active
season of September through May to
cook raw peanuts in buckets of 12
The first commercial peanut crop in Virginia
was grown in Sussex County (near what is
now Waverly) in the early to mid-1840s, and
the first in North Carolina were grown in the
Wilmington area beginning around 1818.
pounds, three fryers at a time,
five minutes at 325 degrees.
" When the peanuts
reposition, we get busy, " he
says. " If I start cooking a little
after 6, we'll be done by 10.
We can do 1,500 pounds in
a morning and then they can
be cooled down and flavored
as we need. "
Steve Laine samples batches,
just to be sure he's on target
with the product. " At least I tell
myself that's why I'm doing it, "
he laughs. " You don't want to
get too far off the mark. "
With all the energy used on
the farm and in production, it's
no wonder that the local utility
is an important part of the process. Cold
storage alone runs $1,200 a month at
Wakefield Peanut, which is served, like
most of the area, by Prince George
Electric Cooperative.
" The heart of our area is very much
into peanuts, " says Renee Chapline,
senior vice president of community
and member engagement at PGEC.
" It's an important part of our economy. "
To underscore the agri-energy ties,
Parker and Surry County farmer
For a long time, peanuts were considered
simple fare. The Civil War helped change the
peanut status when Union Army soldiers found
them to their liking and took them home.
Steve and Jimmy Laine show
some of their products.
John Brock both are members of the
cooperative's board of directors.
TO THE WHITE HOUSE
In the tiny community of Bacon's
Castle, Brock is a farmer, middleman,
wholesaler, retailer, mail-order
businessman and everything in between.
Bacon's Castle Peanuts is located
in a little Surry storefront, just down
a two-lane road from the oldest brick
house in the state. It's a vintage country
store come to life in a digital era, with
bags of peanuts, next to fresh bacon,
smoked ham, jam, relishes and crafts
that would bring a smile to any
grandmother's face.
A third-generation farmer, Brock
tends to about 600 acres, with 30 acres
of peanuts, mostly for his store. He's
been frustrated by stagnant prices and
the fact that there are no peanut buyers
left to contract with in Surry County.
" So, I'm just doing what we did
back in the day, and that's to provide
people with a good-quality peanut
Left, a high-tech machine spots flawed
peanuts and blows them out of the way
with a gust of air.
Far left, at peak time, Wakefield Peanut Co.'s
cold-storage unit holds 1.3 million pounds
of peanuts.
16 | Cooperative Living | October 2020
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Cooperative Living October 2020

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