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WHAT'S NEW:
February 22, 2010 Mark your diaries ... the 2010 Peanut Update will be held this year in Bundaberg on March 29-30.
All peanut growers are invited to attend!
 February 16, 2010 New Zealand peanut butter maker Pic Picot reckons he's onto a "really good" thing with PCA's Hi Oleic peanuts.
In fact, they're so good, the boutique food producer has just been named a finalist in the prestigious 2010 Artisan Awards by Cuisine magazine.
"Pic's Really Good Peanut Butter", (right), is made from nothing but PCA peanuts and a little bit of salt. And there's even a salt-free version, too!
The Artisan Awards are for foodmakers who produce handmade or individually crafted products, generally on a small scale and often according to traditional practices.
 January 27, 2010 Meet PCA's new Marketing Manager, Toni Cohen, (right), who will be starting work with PCA on February 1. Toni has extensive experience in marketing fast-moving consumer goods and new product development. She is an enthusiastic and passionate marketer who has held a number of positions representing leading Australian brands, most recently Sealy of Australia. She was formerly Group Product Manager (Beverages) at Golden Circle and Marketing Co-Ordinator at Sirromet Wines.
January 27, 2010 PCA will be releasing a new ultra-early maturing peanut variety, Tingoora, for the 2010-11 growing season. Tingoora is derived from a cross between  Walter and a highly foliar-disease resistant line. During evaluation trials, it has yielded up to 15 per cent more than Walter. PCA Peanut Breeding and Supply Manager Dr Graeme Wright said Tingoora not only has ultra-early maturity but has a high tolerance to leaf rust.
January 14, 2010 PCA employees farewelled well-known colleague Kevin Norman at a morning tea held at the company's Kingaroy offices today.
Kevin - a former agronomist, Technical Manager and Peanut Business Group General Manager - had been at PCA for 17 years.
December 24, 2009 PCA staff and management celebrated the upcoming Christmas break with a dinner at Kingaroy's Burke and Wills Motel this week.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Craig Mills reflected on the "tumultuous time" the company has been through over the past 12 months with changes of management and the resignation of former Managing Director Bob Hansen.
He thanked staff for supporting the new Management team in the turnaround process and said the Board believed PCA has great potential.
November 20, 2009 The Peanut Company of Australia was proud again to win the Host Employer of the Year award at the Wide Bay Group Training Awards held in Maryborough on November 7.
PCA won the award in the small category (two or less trainees).
October 26, 2009 PCA's export sales of top quality Hi Oleic Australian peanuts has again been recognised in the Premier of Queensland's Export Awards.
PCA was named as a finalist in the Regional Exporter category at the 2009 awards presentation held in Brisbane last week.
 October 22, 2009 Long-serving PCA Managing Director Bob Hansen, (pictured, right, with his wife Julie), was farewelled at a sometimes emotional dinner for long-serving employees this week. Bob announced his resignation from the PCA Board in August but stayed with PCA to assist the new management team through a three-month transition period. Chairman Ian Langdon said Bob - or "Mr Peanut" - had become an icon of the industry since he joined the company in 1993.
October 19, 2009 A morning tea was held at PCA's Kingaroy office today to congratulate staff members who completed their Certificate III in Transport and Logistics (Warehousing and Storage) in double-quick time.
Purchasing Officer David Jones and Corporate Driver / Storeperson Chris McCorry completed the qualification in less than 12 months.
 October 2, 2009 PCA's new Managing Director Craig Mills, (pictured at right with PCA Business Analyst Lionel Wieck), was introduced to peanut growers at a series of meetings throughout Queensland last month. He attended pre-season meetings in Bundaberg, Emerald and Kingaroy alongside PCA Farming Services staff.
September 30, 2009 PCA's Taylors Park farm in the Northern Territory has been featured in the Spring 2009 issue of The Cob, the magazine of the Maize Association of Australia. PCA has been evaluating rotation crop options for its two peanut farms at Katherine, and maize is one of the crops that is being grown. Senior agronomist Patrick Jones told The Cob that maize fitted the rotation of peanuts very well, especially when grown during the off-season dry winter in Northern Australia.
September 25, 2009 PCA has today announced the creation of a new Executive Team at its Kingaroy headquarters which will report directly to Managing Director Mr Craig Mills.
Mr Mills said the changes in the organisational structure were necessary to take the business to its next exciting phase.
 August 18, 2009 Another young trainee placed at PCA has successfully completed her studies and has been offered a full-time position at the company. Greer Wade, (right), recently completed her Certificate III in Business Administration at the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE. She began full-time employment at PCA yesterday. PCA General Manager Commercial David Clark congratulated Greer on her success at a morning tea organised by the PCA Administration team. He said her workmates had all told him what a great asset she has been and he was pleased to welcome her to full-time employment.
 August 6, 2009 PCA Chairman Ian Langdon today announced the appointment of Craig Mills as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer following the retirement of Bob Hansen after 16 years' service to the Company.
Mr Langdon thanked Mr Hansen for his outstanding contribution to PCA over an extended period of time.
"Bob will be assisting Craig through a transition period over the next three months and the Board is delighted that he has agreed to make himself available for a consulting role beyond that period, so his extensive experience and expertise will stay with PCA and the peanut industry," he said.
Mr Langdon said incoming MD/CEO Craig Mills was already a non-executive PCA Director.
"Craig has excelled in corporate leadership having held senior executive positions in a number of companies, most recently as CEO of Golden Circle. In his most recent role, Craig developed a reputation for engaging closely with growers and other key stakeholder groups," he said.
 July 6, 2009 Another trainee has successfully completed his 12 months placement at PCA in Kingaroy, graduating from the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE. Raymond Undery, (pictured at right with Steven Hibbs, PCA IT manager John Miller and Michelle Waters from Wide Bay Group Training), went straight from Year 10 at the South Burnett Catholic College to his traineeship in IT.
 May 15, 2009 Former Blanching Plant Manager Gaven Evans, (pictured at right, centre, with workmates Sue Richards and John Frohloff), was farewelled this week after spending more than 26 years at PCA. Gaven was originally hired in October 1982 "for just three months" to help load bags by hand on to trucks in the Raw Plant. From there he quickly moved to the Trade Floor where he bagged product and then to the Shelling Plant as a gravity operator and then a leading hand.
 April 30, 2009 The Australian peanut industry is very well-positioned to deal with - and prosper under - a future carbon emissions trading scheme, PCA General Manager (Breeding and Crops) Dr Graeme Wright, (pictured far right with Peter Perkins from the National Farmers Federation and Robert McIntosh from Kingaroy TAFE), told the recent Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics (ABARE) Regional Outlook conference in Kingaroy.
"Being a highly efficient crop legume, the peanut has a good capacity to scavenge for nutrients plus is capable of fixing large quantities of biological nitrogen, both for its own use and in subsequent rotation crops," Dr Wright said.
The Regional Outlook conferences allow ABARE to deliver commodity forecasts, economic analysis and research results directly to rural and regional communities.
April 27, 2009 PCA has decided to be a devil this year ... an Isis Devil, that is!
When PCA was approached by the Childers-based rugby league team to be one of their 2009 sponsors, the company was glad to be able to help.
 April 24, 2009 Meet PCA's newest employee, Melissa Bryan, (right), another successful product of the company's policy of supporting local trainees. Melissa was placed at PCA by Wide Bay Group Training (WBGT) while she completed her Certificate III in Business at the local Kingaroy TAFE College. At PCA she worked in accounts and relieved on the switch but still managed to complete her training modules in double-quick time ... just nine months!
April 20, 2009 People often complain about there being too many "nuts" on the road, well PCA has just added one more ... but we don't think peanut lovers will mind one bit!
PCA, in conjunction with SBA Fiedlers Transport at Rocklea, are promoting the Australian peanut industry on the back and sides of a road train which is regularly travelling the highways linking Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
April 15, 2009  At the 2009 Wine and Food in the Park Festival in Kingaroy, PCA was proud to unveil its new corporate mascot: a fully-restored 1934 KC30 Dodge truck, similar to the many farm trucks that hauled peanuts to the Kingaroy silos for so many years. Amazingly PCA is only the old Dodge truck's real second owner. It was used on the Melbourne waterfront for many years before passing through the hands of several members of the original owner's family and ending up in NSW.
March 23, 2009 PCA was intensively audited for the best part of a week recently by an international accreditation authority to the exacting standards of the Global Standard For Food Safety. We are pleased to announce that PCA was successfully accredited to this Standard for the sorting, blanching and further processing of peanuts for supply to the food industry.
 March 6, 2009 PCA General Manager Australian Sales Tricia Freeman was honoured to be asked to present the Food Excellence Award at the 2009 Kingaroy Shoppingworld awards night recently. Tricia presented the trophy to Jeff Petersen from Cellarbrations, (right, photo courtesy South Burnett Times), at the Kingaroy RSL Club. The awards are only open to the tenants of Kingaroy's Shoppingworld complex and are always keenly contested.
January 14, 2008 2008 was a big year for PCA, with further expansion into the Northern Territory, strengthening markets in Asia and Japan and improved profitability in the face of less-than-perfect growing conditions.
So after a tough - but successful year - management and employees took the opportunity in December to enjoy a Christmas dinner together at Kingaroy's Burke and Wills Motel.
November 27, 2008 Celebrity chefs Alastair McLeod (Bretts Wharf restaurant) and Andrew Mirosch (Lurleen's restaurant at Sirromet Winery) and a Channel 7 film crew visited PCA this week as part of a film shoot about the South Burnett Cuisine Trail.
The team visited a number of local establishments including Crane Wines, the Tingoora Hotel, Clovelly Estate Wines, The Peanut Van, Burning Beats and Bottle Tree Hill Organics at Crownthorpe.
November 10, 2008 Hot on the heels of their success at the Wide Bay Group Training Awards, PCA was proud to win the Agribusiness & Rural Services trophy at the 2008 Heritage KCCI Kingaroy Business Awards for Excellence held at Kingaroy Town Hall on November 8. PCA also took out the Corporate Citizen title for its community activities and electrical apprentice David Torry was presented with the Outstanding Trainee trophy.
November 6, 2008 The Peanut Company of Australia was proud to win the Host Employer of the Year award at the 2008 Wide Bay Group Training Awards held in Maryborough on November 1.
 November 5, 2008 Peanut growers who missed out on attending the Peanut Conference in Bundaberg earlier this year may have also missed out on receiving their free copy of the "BMP for Peanuts" CD.
The CD, produced by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries in conjunction with the Grains Research and Development Corporation, provides the results of information gathered during the Best Management Practices in peanuts research program.
DPI&F Acting General Manager Plant Science Dr Paul Grieves told the Bundaberg Conference the CD would play an important role in supporting Queensland peanut growers.
October 22, 2008 Hot on the heels of its success at the recent 2008 Queensland Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry awards, PCA has been named a finalist in the 2008 Premier of Queensland's Export Awards. The awards ceremony was held at the Brisbane Convention Centre on October 16. There were 24 nominations in the Agribusiness category.
 October 2, 2008 PCA won the prestigious Supreme Exporter Award as well as the Agribusiness trophy at the 2008 Queensland Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry / Jalpak Travel awards held at Tattersalls Club in Brisbane yesterday. Peanut Business Group General Manager Kevin Norman ( pictured right with Export and Planning Manager Michelle Gilchrist), said PCA was pleasantly surprised to win the major award, especially as it was up against many worthy companies including some big mining and resource groups. He was presented with the trophy by Japanese Consul-General Makoto Hinei and Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations John Mickel. PCA has been exporting to New Zealand, the United Kingdom and parts of Europe for the past 20 years. However the focus on Japan has mainly developed over the past three years.
September 29, 2007 PCA bid a sad farewell to two young Kingaroy employees recently ... both of whom have made a big mark in their short time at the company!
Former business trainee Kimberley Reynolds began a 12-month traineeship arranged by Wide Bay Group Training in 2007.
Electrician Ross Ingram joined PCA as an apprentice in 2003.
September 17, 2008  When Shirley Hewison started work at the Peanut Marketing Board in 1966 there were only three varieties of peanuts being processed: Red Spanish, White Spanish and Virginia Bunch.
Now there are all the new Hi Oleic varieties with new varieties being introduced every year!
Shirley, (pictured, right, at the PCA Employees Dinner earlier this year with PCA Managing Director Bob Hansen and Chairman Ian Langdon) retired last month after 42 years of continuous service for the now Peanut Company of Australia.
 August 8, 2008 PCA representatives, including PCA Training Co-Ordinator Wendy Martin and trainee Raymond Undery, (pictured at right), were happy to speak to South Burnett school-leavers seeking career advice at the annual Careers Market held at the Kingaroy State High School yesterday.
Students from a number of Sough Burnett schools attended the expo which included employers, training organisations and tertiary establishments.
PCA can offer career pathways in a number of fields for school leavers, ranging from office work to workshop positions.
 July 28, 2008 You may hear a new voice on the end of the line when you ring PCA these days ...
Melissa Bryan, from Nanango, (pictured at right with fellow trainee Raymond Undery), recently started at PCA on a 12-month traineeship organised by Wide Bay Group Training.
Melissa is completing a Certificate III in Business Administration at the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE (SQIT) in Kingaroy and when not at college is working at PCA in accounts payable and reception.
Another new trainee at PCA is Raymond Undery, from Crawford, who has just begun a 12-month traineeship in IT maintenance.
 July 21, 2008 Two long-serving employees, Bob Andrea and Bob Yeats (pictured at right with supervisor Paul Cooper and Raw Plant Manager Chris Seng), clocked off for the last time at PCA on Friday afternoon.
Their workmates farewelled the pair at a function held at the Carrollee Hotel on Saturday night.
Bob and Bob both worked in the Maintenance section of PCA's Kingaroy complex, helping to keep the myriad pieces of machinery running smoothly.
July 10, 2008  Back in April, a quiet revolution hit PCA's packing area with the installation of a $95,000 Verbruggen "palletizer" direct from The Netherlands. Raw Plant Manager Chris Seng, ( right), explained that this handy piece of equipment had increased the speed of product handling in the loading area and was far more efficient than previous procedures. The palletizer is coupled with PCA's heat-seal packager which ensures a smooth flow of product into 25kg plastic bags. It can also handle 22kg paper bags and 40kg hessian sacks of product.
June 30, 2008  Managing Director Bob Hansen and Board Chairman Ian Langdon (pictured at right with long-serving employee Chris Seng) indicated there were some exciting opportunities ahead for the company at the annual Employees Dinner held in Kingaroy this month.
Mr Hansen said PCA is in the process of purchasing properties in the Bundaberg region to help shore up its intake of peanuts. This follows the purchase of its second Northern Territory property late last year.
"It has been really quite a challenging year for the company in regards to commodity prices, changes in the prices of fuel and fertilizer and changes in climate," he said.
"However it has also been a year which has presented a lot of opportunities for us."
 June 23, 2008 PCA Directors (pictured at right, Ian Langdon, Bob Hansen, Ross Burney and Niven Hancock) briefed shareholders on recent company activities at a meeting in Kingaroy in the lead-up to the Annual General Meeting which will be held in Brisbane on July 28.
Managing Director Bob Hansen started the discussion with a presentation of photographs taken at PCA's new Katherine property, Taylors Park.
Taylors Park was purchased for $9 million late last year and is PCA's first venture into large-scale commercial peanut production.
Improvements so far have included the installation of gas dryers and pig-proof fencing.
Mr Hansen said there was a total of 4000ha of arable land and the plan was for 3500ha to be irrigated. New pivot irrigators, were currently being installed.
Runner peanut varieties were grown at the two PCA Katherine properties this year alongside corn and millet which will be used as rotation crops.
PCA Chairman Ian Langdon said the Northern Territory was a very important part of PCA's investment strategy and a step into the future for the company.
June 6, 2008 "In peanut terms it's an amazing property ... I wouldn't call it peanut heaven, but it's getting close".
This is how PCA Managing Director Bob Hansen described PCA's new Taylors Park property near Katherine on a recent episode of the ABC-TV program Landline.
PCA plans to spend nearly $20 million on its two Katherine properties over the next four to five years and aims to produce 13,500 tonnes of peanuts a year by 2012.
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