text: why are peanut plants illegal??   they are not.the large seeded virginia group peanuts are grown in virginia, north carolina, tennessee, and parts of georgia. the major producers/exporters of peanuts are the united states, argentina, sudan, senegal, and brazil.it is also illegal under federal law to grow peanuts on more than one acre (4,000 m²) of land for commercial consumption. this effectively creates a peanut monopoly, as it is not economically feasible to grow peanuts on only one acre (4,000 m²) of land, while drastically increasing prices.