Methodology

How the trackers, the rate sheet, and the postmortems are built. Updated 2026-05-17.

Runner #1 Fair-Range Price Tracker

Base data is the weekly USDA AMS Peanut Market News report (Friday afternoon release), cross-checked against operator-submitted PO data. We publish the median and the inter-quartile range (IQR) for Runner #1 medium, blanched, delivered, per pound. We split the band by US region (Southeast, Southwest, Virginia/Carolina). If submitted-PO count is < 6 for the week, we publish only USDA AMS data with a note.

Sheller Lead-Time Reality Check

Monthly survey of operators who closed orders in the prior 90 days. Calendar days from PO submission to wheels-up (truck departing sheller dock). Sheller-quoted lead time is also captured. We publish the median, p90, and the gap between quoted and actual.

Sheller Directory + Scorecard

Directory rows are sourced from USDA registered shellers (public list) plus operator-confirmed broker entries. Scorecard fields (MOQ flexibility, lead-time consistency, rep responsiveness) are operator-submitted on a 1-5 scale; we publish each sheller's median once we have ≥ 8 distinct operator submissions. Below 8, we mark "insufficient data."

Anonymization

Submitted POs and lead-time reports are stripped of business name, contact name, and exact ZIP code at intake. We retain: variety + grade + size, sheller name (we publish per-sheller medians), region (state-level), MOQ, quoted price, delivered price, payment terms, lead time quoted, lead time actual.

Postmortems

"Reject and rework" stories are composite. Variety, lot defect type, financial mechanics, and timing are real. Business name, exact location, and sheller name are scrambled. We publish only after the affected operator confirms the composite reads true to their experience.

Corrections

Corrections are logged at /corrections within 24 hours. We never silently edit. If a tracker reading is revised, the prior reading remains visible with a strikethrough and a note pointing to the correction entry.