Farmer-owned peanut production and processing firm Delta Peanut held an event on May 20 to mark the start of construction on its new $50 million peanut processing plant in Kennett, MO, the Missouri Department of Economic Development announced in a recent release.

“Delta Peanut is extremely excited to expand its operations into Kennett, MO. Our investments in Kennett will complement our existing capacities to shell and sell edible peanuts while also expanding our footprint for production and capabilities to service new segments and additional markets,” the firm’s CEO, Tommy Jumper, said in a statement. “Several specific opportunities fit us perfectly an supported our efforts to grow in such a challenging time. I’ve been amazed at what can be accomplished when 75 farm families partner with authorities who all want the same thing. I’m certain we’ll add to job creation and prosperity by partnering toward the same objectives.”

About 50 new jobs will be created as a result of the project. Manufacturing positions will have an average wage of $38,250.

“We are thrilled to see peanuts return to Missouri,” said the state’s director of agriculture, Chris Chinn, in the release. “Our team was just in southeast Missouri to capture the progress our farmers made this planting season. It’s exciting to see our farmers’ dreams of a peanut shelling facility come true just a year after Missouri was deemed a primary peanut producing state by USDA.”

Because Delta Peanut is a farmer-owned entity, the firm can use the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority’s New Generation Cooperative Tax Credit. The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is offering a $350,000 grant to the City of Kennett through Missouri’s Economic Development Assistance Program. Kennett will also receive $450,00 in CDBG Industrial Infrastructure grant funds to cover the costs of a new road to the facility.

Delta Peanut’s owners are farmers in Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.