After leaving DuPont’s facility, the Peanut Tour caravan headed to the north side of Lowndes County for a local farm stop. Jake Price, Lowndes County extension agent, provided information to the Georgia Peanut Tour participants on agricultural production in Lowndes County. Lowndes County major crops are cotton, corn, peanuts, tobacco and soybeans. The south end of the county grows primarily vegetables. Price said urban agriculture has grown recently with more nurseries and golf courses becoming popular. When looking at irrigation and dryland, Price said peanuts and cotton are mostly dryland and corn and tobacco are mostly irrigated. For peanuts, Lowndes County grows mostly Georgia 06 and Florida 07 varieties. This year’s major issue has been the large amount of rainfall the county has received. In past years, the burrower bug has been a problem, but this year it has not been as troublesome. Farmers in Lowndes County have started digging and Price said he expects most fields to yield well with approximately 4,500-6000 lbs per acre.
While at this stop, attendees had the opportunity to see one of Lowndes County’s peanut fields that has struggled with the amount of rainfall received this year. See the photo above. The field is farmed by Wes Shannon, Georgia Peanut Commission advisory board member, and his son. Check out the video clip below of Wes and his son discussing the Georgia Greeners planted in this field.