[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 41 (Thursday, March 7, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN HONOR OF THE AMERICAN PEANUT SHELLERS ASSOCIATION'S 100 YEAR 
                              ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 7, 2019

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia.  Madam Speaker, it is my great honor to extend 
a heartfelt congratulations to the American Peanut Shellers Association 
(APSA) as it celebrates 100 years in leading the effort to expand and 
advance the American peanut industry. The APSA will be celebrating this 
great milestone on Friday, April 5, 2019, during the Industry Spring 
Conference at the Bindery at Oakland Library in Leesburg, Georgia.
  The APSA was established by commercial peanut shellers and crushers 
from Georgia, Alabama, and Florida who began operations in early 1918 
as the Southeastern Peanut Association (SPA). Approximately a year 
later, on April 5, 1919, a group of commercial peanut farmers 
representing their home states convened in Atlanta to officially 
charter the Southeastern Peanut Association. On November 30, 1993, the 
Southeastern Peanut Association officially changed its name to the 
American Peanut Shellers Association to incorporate other shelling 
companies from other states. The current APSA headquarters in Albany, 
Georgia was completed in 1986 and has been the official hub of this 
renowned association since it's relocation from Americus, Georgia in 
the early in 1960s.
  For the past 100 years, Georgia peanut farmers through the APSA have 
been successful in improving the profitability of peanuts and peanut 
products by working to promote and increase consumption. In 1965, the 
APSA co-sponsored first USA Peanut Congress--the largest meeting of all 
segments of the peanut industry. Today, the APSA is the oldest 
organized group in the peanut industry boasting 10 active member 
shelling companies and 145 associate members who handle 90 percent of 
the peanuts grown in the United States.
  I take much pride in the fact that Georgia leads the nation in 
production of peanuts with nearly 50 percent of the annual peanut crop. 
Georgia has 14,000 farms with peanuts and about 4,500 active farmers. 
Approximately 200 businesses in Georgia are peanut-related. Two million 
bags of peanuts are distributed annually and the industry contributes 
more than 50,000 jobs and an estimated $2 billion to the economy of the 
state of Georgia.
  Since George Washington Carver discovered the many uses for the 
peanut in the early twentieth century, peanuts have become a household 
food staple and a source of dietary fiber, protein, and other healthy 
nutrients. Although peanuts are produced in other parts of the country, 
I am a firm believer that no peanuts are of higher quality or more 
delicious than Georgia peanuts.
  On a personal note, I would like to thank John Powell, Executive 
Director of the American Peanut Shellers Association, and the rest of 
the wonderful staff as well as Chairman Ralph Johnson and all those who 
serve on the Associate Board of Directors. Their hard work and 
dedication have contributed to the success of the APSA in many ways.
  Madam Speaker, on behalf of the residents of Georgia's Second 
Congressional District, the state of Georgia, and all those nationwide 
and worldwide who enjoy our tasty American peanuts, I ask my colleagues 
to join me today in paying tribute to the American Peanut Shellers 
Association for their exemplary services and dedicated efforts to 
support our Nation's peanut industry over the past 100 years.

                          ____________________