Lee County has several claims to fame including the famous baseball player Buster Posey and singers Luke Bryan and Phillip Phillips. However, Georgia Peanut Tour attendees were able to visit with area farmers and tour Smithville Peanut Buying Point, which is one of the three peanut buying points in the county. Lee County also is home to two peanut shelling plants. Doug Collins, Lee County Extension Coordinator, says the peanut crop looks very good for this growing season. The total peanut acreage in Lee County this year is 18,985 acres. Seventy percent of the peanut acreage is irrigated in the county. Collins expects that the average yield could approach two tons per acre this year. Peanuts were planted from very late March into June. Other major crops in Lee County include corn (10,350 acres), cotton (14,729.9 acres), wheat (7,464 acres), soybeans (3,208 acres), and pecans (7,112 acres). Rainfall amounts from place to place within the county have been very variable. In addition to Palmer amaranth, sicklepod was a troublesome weed this year. Lee County and neighboring counties of Dougherty & Mitchell also make up a fairly large percentage of Georgia’s pecan production.
