ATLANTA (AP) - A big peanut harvest is likely to reduce prices on peanut butter and other products for consumers stinging from high grocery prices.
U.S. farmers expect to bring in two-thirds more peanuts this year than they did in 2011. Armond Morris farms 1,000 acres in south Georgia, and he says farmers are getting more peanuts off each acre this year than last, when many peanuts dried up in the ground in unusual heat and drought.
That sent prices skyrocketing, which prompted farmers to plant more peanuts. Then they had almost perfect weather.
As a result, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts this year's harvest will be about 3 million tons, compared with last year's roughly 1.8 million tons.
Experts say that means peanut butter prices could fall 10 percent or more.
