At the end of the 1970s, Ernie Racz and his wife Nancy, started to look for an alternative to tobacco growing. The mild climate and sandy soils of Southwestern Ontario, where they had previously grown tobacco were perfectly suited to commercial peanut farming. Today, they own the largest peanut growing business in Canada – Kernal Peanuts. On their family farm, they manufacture and sell their own peanut products, such as peanut butter, chocolate peanuts, salted peanuts etc… The Raczs stopped growing tobacco altogether in 1986 and have since then encouraged other tobacco farmers in their region to try peanuts as an alternative crop.
Alternatives