Tour attendees visiting MANA Nutrition‘s facility in Pooler, Georgia, received an inside look into Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). RUTF is a dense, nutrient-rich food used to treat severe malnutrition. The purpose of RUTF is to help children gain weight, improve strength, and restore overall health. It is made with milk, multivitamins, and peanut butter. The product is especially effective because it is shelf-stable and requires no preparation. This stop was highlighted because every package of RUTF begins with peanuts grown in Georgia. MANA purchases approximately 2 million pounds of peanuts each month to produce the product.

Attendees toured the 320,000 square-foot warehouse which is four miles from the Port of Savannah. The warehouse has enabled the company to double its current production while adding new storage capacity. Design-build firm A M King transformed the unfinished warehouse into an advanced food processing facility, which opened in 2025 and produces MANA’s Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and Ready-to-Use Supplemental Food (RUSF). The site complements the company’s Fitzgerald, Ga., production and storage facility.

The RUTF product is a paste that is packaged in foil packets – similar to ketchup packets and about the size of a cell phone and easily carried in a pocket. RUTF is a meal replacement. Children aged six months to two years eat three packets a day, generally for about six weeks, during which time there are health checkups. MANA Nutrition sells to three entities: USAID, UNICEF and the World Food Programme.

According to MANA Nutrition CEO Mark Moore, the company hopes to expand production with products we don’t presently make at their Fitzgerald facility. The Pooler facility is unique due to its vicinity to the Port of Savannah. MANA shipped over 1,000 containers in 2024 through Savannah.

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

University of Georgia extension specialist and plant pathologist Bob Kemerait works with diseases and nematodes affecting peanut crops. During the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour visit to the Southeast Georgia Research and Education Center in Midville, Kemerait discussed the disease challenges Georgia peanut growers face and the importance of protecting the crop’s yield potential.

“When we bring people on this Georgia Peanut Tour, they seem to see some of the best of the best peanuts grown anywhere in the world,” Kemerait says. “And it’s easy when you see the peanuts growing, it’s easy to underestimate just how hard our growers have to work to make them look as good as they do.”

Georgia’s hot, humid weather creates ideal conditions for fungal diseases, including leaf spot and white mold. Growers also have to manage tomato spotted wilt virus. Kemerait says growers must invest in the right varieties, crop rotation and fungicides to protect their crop throughout the growing season.

“Right now, our peanut crop has the opportunity to make 6,000 pounds per acre or more with the good varieties we have,” Kemerait says. “But if you do not manage disease, it could take it down to 4,000, 3,000, 2,000 pounds per acre.” Effective disease management is critical to protecting the yield potential of Georgia’s peanut crop.

Kemerait also highlighted the importance of the Southeast Georgia Research and Education Center at Midville, where researchers from multiple disciplines work together to address challenges facing growers. Plant pathologists, entomologists, weed scientists, agronomists and agricultural engineers conduct research at the station to develop solutions for crop production in southeast Georgia.

“The most important thing about this station is whether you are an entomologist, a weed scientist, an agronomist, an agricultural engineer, a plant pathologist, we all do research here with Anthony Black and his team to try and find solutions to what the growers face in this area,” Kemerait says. “It’s a jewel we have hidden here.”

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

During the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour, Scott Monfort, University of Georgia Extension peanut agronomist, provided an update on the peanut crop and some of the challenges growers have faced throughout the season.

According to Monfort, the 2026 crop is about 110 to 120 days into the growing season and has experienced both favorable and challenging conditions.

“We have had a lot of good things that happen for most of the growers in the state, but we also have had some bad things happen,” Monfort says. “It’s kind of an average year for us. We’ve struggled from planting all the way to now, and a large part of that struggle has been the weather.”

One of the biggest challenges this season has been sporadic rainfall. While irrigation has helped growers manage conditions in some areas, Monfort says irrigation alone cannot fully meet the crop’s needs. As a result, dryland fields across the state have responded differently depending on the rainfall they have received.

“You’re going to see some dryland crops that don’t look too good, and then we’re also going to see some that do,” Monfort says. “It’s not been a great season, but it’s been a good average season for us. Been a little bit better than the last two seasons has been for us.”

Growers have also had to manage diseases, insects and other production challenges throughout the season. Despite those issues, Monfort says growers have stayed on top of their management practices, helping the crop maintain its yield and quality potential.

“We are fighting diseases. We’re fighting insects, as well as some other issues, like I mentioned,” Monfort says. “But for the most part, our growers have stayed on top of those. And at this point, we think we’re going to have a pretty good crop yield-wise, but also quality-wise, and hopefully you’ll get to see that on this tour.”

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

Mark Abney, peanut entomologist at the University of Georgia, provided an overview of his work during the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour. He receives the question many times from people asking, what does the peanut entomologist at the University of Georgia do?

According to Abney, his research and extension responsibilities center on helping growers manage insects in ways that protect their crop and improve profitability.

“We’re really interested in now is continuing to work on lesser cornstalk borer,” Abney says. “That’s an insect that affects all of our growers wherever they are in the state.”

Abney conducts research across Georgia because peanut production occurs in a variety of environments throughout the state. Research is conducted at locations including Tifton, Plains and Midville to better understand what growers in different areas need to do to manage insects most effectively.

“When you look across the state, you’ll see that there’s a lot of different environment,” Abney says. “We grow peanuts in different kind of places. It’s really important that we do research all over the state.”

That is where Abney sees his role as the peanut entomologist in helping growers. His research focuses on the insects that occur in peanuts, developing thresholds and evaluating insecticides and other management tools to determine what works best and what is most economical for growers.

The goal is to help farmers reduce the risk of insect injury, protect yield and make profitable decisions about when and how to manage pests.

Every year is different in terms of insect and disease pressure and 2026 is no different. The production year started out cool and with thrips pressure and tomato spotted wilt virus. Later in the season, farmers dealt with foliage-feeding caterpillars, including velvetbean caterpillars, which came into some areas during the last few weeks of the growing season.

According to Abney, the 2026 peanut season has been an average year in terms of insect pressure. Conditions have varied across the state, with some areas experiencing more foliage-feeding caterpillars while other areas have experienced less pressure.

Overall, Abney says growers have been able to manage insects pests effectively.

Abney’s research and extension program ultimately focuses on providing growers with the information they need to make effective pest-management decisions.

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

Nino Brown, University of Georgia peanut breeder provided an update on the university’s peanut breeding program during the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour. Brown develops new peanut varieties for growers in Georgia as well as surrounding states, with a focus on developing varieties that meet the needs of growers and others throughout the peanut industry.

“Our primary customer is the grower, and that’s who we really strive to serve first and foremost,” Brown says. The breeding program focuses on improving yield, grade, disease resistance and agronomic characteristics, while also addressing traits such as nutrition, flavor and composition. Brown says the goal is to develop varieties that serve the needs of growers, shellers, manufacturers and consumers.

Because peanuts are grown across many different environments in Georgia, Brown says the varieties developed by the breeding program need to perform well throughout the state. That makes stability an important consideration in the breeding process. Brown defines stability as a variety’s ability to perform at a high level across many different environments. Researchers test new varieties at as many locations as possible to identify lines that can consistently perform well under different growing conditions.

The University of Georgia’s research and education centers provide a network of locations across the peanut-growing region for those trials. Brown says the breeding program has trials in Attapulgus, Camilla at the Stripling Irrigation Park, Plains, Tifton, Chula and Midville. Testing varieties across these locations allows researchers to evaluate how they perform under a range of environmental and growing conditions.

Midville is a particularly important testing location for the breeding program. Brown describes it as a unique environment for Georgia and one of the program’s largest yield trial locations. A major focus is ensuring that varieties developed in Tifton can also perform at a high level in Midville and other areas of eastern Georgia.

Developing varieties with those traits requires significant effort and financial investment, making support for the breeding program an important part of the process. “It takes a lot of effort, a lot of money to be able to achieve those things, and so we’re really grateful for the support from the Georgia Peanut Commission to achieve those goals that we’re trying to accomplish,” Brown says.

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Attendees had the opportunity to learn about research at Midville on a variety of topics, including the wild peanut lab, peanut breeding, pod blasting and the maturity board. University of Georgia peanut breeder Nino Brown spoke with attendees about the research being conducted at Midville and its importance to peanut production.

The wild peanut lab gave attendees an opportunity to learn about the role of wild peanut species in peanut research. Wild peanuts can provide researchers with genetic traits that may be useful in developing new peanut varieties and improving characteristics of cultivated peanuts.

The peanut breeding program focuses on developing new varieties that meet the needs of growers and the peanut industry. Brown discussed how researchers evaluate traits such as yield, grade, disease resistance and agronomic characteristics. New varieties are tested at multiple research locations across Georgia, including Midville, to evaluate how they perform in different growing environments.

Pod blasting allows researchers to examine peanut pods and kernels to better understand their development. By removing the outer layer of the pod, researchers can observe the kernels and use that information when evaluating peanut maturity.

The maturity board is used to help determine the maturity of peanuts by organizing and evaluating pods based on their development.  Extension agents explained how examining maturity can help growers and researchers determine when peanuts are ready to be dug and better understand the maturity of the crop.

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

During the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour, Dr. Scott Monfort, University of Georgia Extension Peanut Agronomist, provided an update on this year’s peanut crop and the challenges growers have faced throughout the growing season. 

Georgia planted approximately 670,000 acres of peanuts in 2026, down from about 930,000 acres in 2025. Monfort explained that acreage decisions were influenced by cotton prices, weather conditions, and uncertainty leading to planting. The season began with a dry winter and spring, followed by sporadic rainfall that created significant differences between fields across the state. 

Wet conditions later caused planting delays and replanting in some areas, pushing a large portion of the crop into late May and June. The delayed planting created additional concerns as growers worked to provide the crop with enough time and heat units to reach maturity. 

As the season progressed, growers continued to manage drought stress, insect pressure, and leaf spot disease. Dryland fields were particularly affected by inconsistent rainfall, while irrigation helped maintain crop conditions in other areas. Despite the challenges, Monfort reported that approximately 59% of the crop was considered good to excellent, with some irrigated fields producing yields between 5,500 and 6,500 pounds per acre. 

Harvest is now underway, and growers are carefully monitoring peanut maturity to determine the right time to dig. While the 2026 crop is expected to be somewhat below recent averages, Monfort noted that Georgia is still producing a substantial crop with the potential for good overall quality.

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Amanda Smith provided an update on government policy and the Farm Bill, highlighting the challenges facing farmers and the importance of a strong agricultural safety net. She explained that the Farm Bill is a lengthy process involving both the House and Senate, with lawmakers working through committees before reaching agreements and ultimately sending legislation to the President. 

Smith noted that while progress has been made on a new Farm Bill, several areas still require attention, including nutrition, conservation, trade, rural development, research, energy and specialty crops. With the existing 2018 Farm Bill approaching its expiration, she explained that an extension may be necessary while lawmakers continue working toward a broader agreement. 

A major focus of Smith’s presentation was why agricultural policy matters to farmers. Rising input costs, changing commodity prices, weather, pests and other factors can create significant financial uncertainty for producers. She highlighted the growing gap between production costs and commodity prices, which has contributed to increasingly tight margins for farmers. 

For peanut producers in Georgia and Alabama, these challenges make the Farm Bill’s safety-net programs particularly important. Smith discussed programs such as Price Loss Coverage (PLC), Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and crop insurance, which are designed to help producers manage financial risks when prices or revenues decline. 

Smith also highlighted recent changes to commodity programs and crop insurance that are expected to provide additional support to producers. Ultimately, she emphasized that government policy plays an important role in helping farmers navigate unpredictable markets and maintain the long-term sustainability of American agriculture.

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Speaking at the Georgia Peanut Tour in Savannah, Georgia, Taylor Arnold, Executive Director of the Georgia Peanut Commission, highlighted the importance of research, innovation and growing demand for peanuts. 

Arnold explained that the Georgia Peanut Commission invests heavily in research to help farmers improve efficiency, increase yields, manage pests and diseases, use resources such as water more effectively, and support the long-term sustainability of peanut farming. He also emphasized the need to look beyond traditional peanut markets and explore new uses that can create additional demand. 

A major focus of Arnold’s presentation was changing the way consumers view peanuts. While peanuts are often associated with peanut butter, snacks and ballgames, Arnold pointed to their nutritional value, affordability and versatility. He discussed opportunities ranging from premium food products and protein-focused foods to animal feed, industrial applications and fuel. 

Arnold also highlighted the sustainability story behind peanuts, including their relatively low water requirements and the many uses for the peanut plant, vines and shells. 

Another important topic was peanut allergies. Arnold discussed research supporting the early introduction of peanuts and the potential for changing perceptions and creating new opportunities for peanuts in schools and institutional food programs. 

Throughout his presentation, Arnold returned to one central message: the peanut industry has a story to tell. By sharing the nutritional, sustainable and economic benefits of peanuts while exploring new markets and applications, the industry can help increase demand and create new opportunities for Georgia peanut growers. 

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

UGA Extension specialist Wes Porter provided an update on the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), focusing on drought response, agricultural water withdrawal permits, regional water planning and coastal water management. 

Porter reviewed Georgia’s drought response system and the conditions that EPD monitors, including precipitation, stream flows, groundwater levels, reservoir levels, soil moisture and water supply conditions. Georgia reached a Level 1 drought response in April 2026 and, while recent rainfall has provided some relief, several areas of southwest Georgia continue to experience low stream flows and groundwater concerns. 

A major focus was the agricultural water withdrawal permitting program. Georgia currently has more than 27,000 agricultural water withdrawal permits, with permits generally required for withdrawals exceeding 70 gallons per minute or 100,000 gallons per day. Porter also discussed recent changes affecting the Flint River Basin suspension area, including new opportunities for certain permits and different options for unrestricted, drought-restricted and volumetric-limited permits. 

Porter emphasized the importance of maintaining compliance and encouraged producers with questions or permits that may be out of compliance to contact UGA Extension or EPD. He also highlighted the state’s agricultural water metering program and noted that the state is responsible for maintaining permitted water meters. 

The presentation concluded with updates on regional water planning and groundwater management in southeast Georgia, including efforts to protect the Floridan aquifer and reduce the risk of saltwater intrusion near the Savannah area.

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album