History Of The Australian Peanut Industry Peanuts have been grown in Australia since the 1860s but only became a commercial crop in the early 20th Century. At first they were mainly grown by Chinese immigrants for domestic use, especially during the Palmer River goldrush in North Queensland. Although there is one report of "ground nuts" being grown by a farmer in the Condamine region in 1861 no serious attempts were made to grow peanuts commercially in Queensland until the early 20th century. The first peanut farmers in the Kingaroy District included Samuel Long who planted three acres near present-day Corndale in 1901. (Information from Ralph Magnussen) B.J. Johansen planted a crop in about 1915 beside what is now the Bunya Highway. Brothers Ben and Harry Young, of Memerambi, are widely regarded as the pioneers of the South Burnett peanut industry. The sons of a Chinese immigrant, Ah Young, they planted their first crop in 1919. Harry Young subsequently designed the first peanut thresher in Queensland and Ben became a director of the Peanut Marketing Board (PMB - now known as the Peanut Company of Australia). PMB started operations with a shelling machine in a small barn at Crawford, north of Kingaroy, owned by William Muir, the first secretary of the Board. The operation later moved to the Kingaroy railway yards and then to PCA's current location. Initially there were two major production areas developed in Queensland - the Burnett and the Atherton Tableland regions - however peanuts are now also being grown successfully at Katherine in the Northern Territory and have been grown in the Ord River area of Western Australia. In 2000 there were about 400 growers across Australia producing about 55,000 tonnes of peanuts. More than 95 per cent of Australia's peanut crop is still grown in Queensland.		Peanut farmers photographed near Kingaroy in the 1920s. Most farms had very little mechanisation at that time Sorting peanuts at the Peanut Marketing Board in the 1920s. The peanut industry still is a major employer in the area
[Information adapted from "Landscapes of Change" by Dr Tony Matthews; historic photographs supplied by the Kingaroy Bicentennial Heritage Museum]

The timeline below provides a quick overview of the history of the Australian peanut industry and the Peanut Company of Australia. 1860s Peanuts first grown in Australia 1901 Peanuts first grown in South Burnett area of Queensland 1919 Brothers Harry and Ben Young plant their first peanut crop at Memerambi 1921 Fledgling industry receives a boost after NSW company Marrickville Margarine (later known as ETA) installs machinery to extract peanut oil for use in margarine manufacture 1922 Marrickville Margarine purchases entire Burnett peanut crop 1924 Peanut Marketing Board forms, with W.M. Wheatley as chairman, at the request of Queensland growers to acquire the crop and market it on their behalf 1927 An affiliated body, Queensland Peanut Growers Co-operative Association Ltd, forms to assist with the handling, storage and marketing of the crop 1929 3000 ton peanut silo opens in Kingaroy (started 1928 - built at a cost of £55,000) 1933 PMB establishes depot on Atherton Tableland 1938 Additional 4600 ton silo & plant built in Kingaroy (£62,000) 1951 Original wooden silo destroyed by a fire started accidentally in the lunchroom 1952 Introduction of seed protectants 1968 Commencement of deliveries in bulk, replacing the storage of bagged Farmers' Stock peanuts 1975 Fungicides such as Bravo introduced to control foliar damage 1990 Irrigation as a management practice to improve yields per hectare and quality starts to become widely adopted 1992 Peanut Marketing Board restructures into a public company, PMB Australia Ltd 1994 New superior cultivars such as Streeton, Florunner and NC7 are being grown extensively 1995 Name changes to the Peanut Company of Australia Ltd 2001 PCA opens 3000 tonne cold storage and packaging facility in Kingaroy 2003 $1.76m PCA Innovation and Technical Centre opens in Kingaroy 2006 PCA commences the adoption of a comprehensive Water Management Strategy to increase irrigation production 2007 PCA purchases 11,700ha property near Katherine in the Northern Territory

Work on building the first peanut silo started in Kingaroy in 1928. The silo cost £55,000 and took a year to construct Construction of the concrete silos began in 1938. These buildings still dominate Kingaroy's skyline today The original wooden silo was destroyed by fire in 1951