April 9, 2018
Construction has started on Crumptons’ new pure seed processing plant in Kingaroy, but owner Sonie Crumpton doesn’t expect it to be fully operational until April or May next year.
The plant, which is being built behind Crumptons’ existing silos at the company’s secondary site near Taylors Road, will allow Crumptons to more easily work with small batches of peanut seed.
Crumpton Interstate – a division of the business – has been researching the development of new and improved peanut varieties for several years.
It has been importing varieties for testing from all over the world, including Argentina, India and Mexico.
Sonie said Crumptons were aiming to develop and release better peanut varieties for Australian growers, but this was a process that could take between five and seven years.
This was because imported peanuts need to be kept in quarantine for over 12 months to prevent the introduction of potentially devastating diseases.
Following the quarantine period, a small number of viable seeds are used to grow the first crop in Australian soil; and then succeeding crops are grown over several more years to increase seed stocks.
During this time, plant breeders will analyse and cross-breed the new variety in the hope of developing a superior plant for Australian conditions.
This exacting work needs to be undertaken separately from processing existing peanut varieties, which Crumptons will continue to carry out at their main processing plant in Crawford.
“The new seed plant will make for easier processing,” Sonie said.
It is also expected to create at least two new jobs.
