Author: joycrosby

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Hot Topics focus on the University of Georgia peanut programs

monfort-at-hot-topicsThe 30th annual Georgia Peanut Tour kicked off on the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 13, with a “Hot Topics” symposium located at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Expert speakers addressed the current status of Georgia’s peanut crop and also the importance of University research in sustaining peanut production in Georgia. Symposium speakers will discuss recent innovations and research in peanut production, breeding, pest management, engineering, storage and handling, and processing.

University of Georgia and USDA scientists conduct research and extension programs on all aspects of peanut production. The majority of these scientists are located at the University of Georgia’s Coastal Plain Experiment Station at Tifton. The remaining scientists are located at the Georgia Station at Griffin, the main campus at Athens, and the USDA’s National Peanut Research Lab at Dawson.

Producing a peanut crop involves a broad spectrum of cultural practices. These include: agronomics, fertilization, cultivar selection, pest management (weeds, insects, diseases), irrigation, mechanization, economics and marketing. The University of Georgia Peanut Team produces a guidebook annually for growers to use throughout the production season. The 2016 Georgia Peanut Update is available online for growers. The University of Georgia also has numerous publications related to peanut production and many of the publications are available through the UGA Cooperative Extension county offices.

View the speaker presentations by clicking here.

View the 2016 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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Welcome to the 30th annual Georgia Peanut Tour

2016_gptlogoWelcome to the 2016 Georgia Peanut Tour! This year marks a major milestone for the Georgia Peanut Tour; it’s the 30th anniversary and we are overjoyed you joined us for the occasion! Like all previous peanut tours, you will be immersed in one of Georgia’s most important agricultural crops from the field to the manufacturer. We sincerely appreciate each of you joining us on this exciting tour and hope, through the experience of the tour; you will understand and appreciate the heritage of peanut production in our state. Each of us engaged in the peanut industry – farmers, buyers, processors, researchers, Extension personnel, Georgia Peanut Commission representatives and everyone in between, are proud Georgia is the leading peanut producer in the United States, and we are all the more happy you could join us for the next three days as our special guests!

The 30th annual Georgia Peanut Tour will kick off on the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 13, with a “Hot Topics” symposium located at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Expert speakers will address the current status of Georgia’s peanut crop and also the importance of University research in sustaining peanut production in Georgia. Symposium speakers will discuss recent innovations and research in peanut production, breeding, pest management, engineering, storage and handling, and processing.

While on the Peanut Tour, you will be able to hear directly from farmers about the challenges they face and the solutions they adopt to produce a vibrant peanut crop. You will witness multiple facets of peanut production, post-harvest handling and processing. Further, you will hear from researchers and Extension faculty from the University of Georgia about their efforts to find innovative ways to aid farmers and improve peanut production. Most of this effort is funded through the Georgia Peanut Commission, which invests money from growers today for better production in the future.

Again, on behalf of the Georgia Peanut Tour committee, a team comprising members from the USDA-ARS Peanut Lab, the Georgia Peanut Commission and the University of Georgia, we warmly welcome you to the 30th annual Georgia Peanut Tour! We hope, over the next few days, you will learn about the complexity of the peanut industry in Georgia and the personal commitments from all involved in producing the world’s finest peanuts! We hope our events will allow for fellowship and enjoyment of Georgia’s renowned hospitality. We offer our sincere thanks to all the sponsors, who through their generosity, help make this tour possible.

View the 2016 Georgia Peanut tour Photo Album.

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2016 Georgia Peanut Tour set for Tifton area

2016_gptlogoThe thirtieth annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be held September 13-15, 2016, in Tifton, Georgia, and surrounding area. The tour brings the latest information on peanuts while giving a first-hand view of industry infrastructure from production and handling to  processing and utilization. Tour stops will be made in several peanut producing counties including Tift, Irwin, Coffee and Ben Hill County.

Hotel accommodations can be made at the Country Inn & Suites in Tifton by calling 229-382-8100 or the  Comfort Inn & Suites in Tifton by calling 229-382-8250. Rooms are available at the rate of $85.00 plus tax for a standard room. Be sure to ask for the Georgia Peanut Tour room block.

For more information, contact Hannah Jones at hannah@gapeanuts.com or call at 229-386-3475.

Tour Schedule
2016 Georgia Peanut Tour Maps & Driving Directions
View Sponsorship Packet

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Peanut Tour showcases Georgia’s 2015 crop

IMG_4804_editThe top peanut-producing state in the country showcased its 2015 crop during the annual Georgia Peanut Tour, which was held Sept. 15-17.

 

The University of Georgia, along with the Georgia Peanut Commission, coordinated the three-day tour, which allowed participants to visit southwest Georgia, home of some of the top peanut producers in the state. The tour, which included farmers, industry personnel and visitors from other countries, educated participants about all aspects of peanut production — from planting and harvesting to the manufacturing of the crop.

Tour attendees learned why peanuts are a high-value crop for Georgia farmers.

“The tour has been excellent. We got to visit a number of sites that showcased Georgia’s peanut production,” said Rajagopalbabu “Babu” Srinivasan, UGA entomologist and chairman of the peanut tour committee. “We got to see farming operations on a big scale, digging and picking. We had a good session at our research station in Attapulgus, Georgia, (Wednesday) that allowed us to highlight our research findings over the years.”

Srinivasan and fellow UGA team members, including plant pathologists, agronomists, entomologists and economists, provided insight as to why peanut production is a complex — but rewarding — process.

“Even though we have a number of people who participate in the peanut tour every year, we have several newcomers. What we wanted to do was show to them everything we could in a couple of days about peanut production. This being the time for harvest, we were able to show them how the peanuts are harvested and processed” Srinivasan said.

The tour included visits to multiple farming operations in Decatur, Grady, Miller and Seminole counties, including John Harrell’s peanut field in Grady County on Thursday.

“I’ve been on every Georgia Peanut Tour since 1999, and this is the first year I haven’t traveled all the way with the tour. This is a highlight of mine, to have the peanut tour on my farm north of Whigham, (Georgia),” Harrell said. “My irrigated peanuts look great. We went through tough times in August, so it’s going to affect these yields on my dryland peanuts.”

Srinivasan said Georgia was expected to grow almost 800,000 acres of peanuts this year. Such an increase was attributed to the poor commodity prices for corn and cotton. While peanut prices are not ideal, they do present better opportunities for profit, which is why achieving high yields is so important for farmers in southwest Georgia.

“Like I said the first day, we grow a lot of peanuts and we grow the world’s finest peanuts. This is the peanut capital of the world,” Srinivasan said. “There’s no other place that could top this, I would say.”

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

By: Clint Thompson, University of Georgia

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Fudge Peanut Buying Point

Attendees were able to visit Fudge Peanut Buying Point in Colquitt, Georgia, on the 29th Annual Georgia Peanut Tour. During the visit participants were able to learn more about the grading process for peanuts and the sorting, drying and storage methods at a buying point. As peanuts enter the buying point the semitrailers of peanuts are dried and then samples are taken from the trailers for grading. The peanuts are graded by employees of the Georgia Federal State Inspection service. Fudge Buying Point currently has 92 dryers that work to dry the peanuts to at least 10% moisture. The dryers are like large hair dryers that are hooked up to the trailers. Sometimes peanuts enter the buying point at 20% moisture level and it can take up to 20 hours to dry the peanuts. At Fudge Buying Point, they are testing moisture sensors in each trailer that will allow them to make sure they are not over drying peanuts. All of the dryers are hooked up to a computer that allows the buying point to change the temperature of all 92 dryers at one time. They take caution to not dry the peanuts too fast which can cause splits or to burn the peanuts. Fudge Buying Point is owned by Birdsong Peanuts.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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TSWV and leaf spot in peanuts

Albert Culbreath, University of Georgia research plant pathologist, focuses his research projects on tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and leaf spot. According to Culbreath, TSWV has flared up quite severe this year in some areas and has been a challenge for growers. The virus is spread by thrips so he is studying various insecticides that may help. There are also new peanut varieties developed by the University of Georgia and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that has improved resistance to TSWV. He has noticed that the planting date that minimizes TSWV seems to maximize leaf spot. Culbreath is also working with geneticist and breeders to develop molecular markers to develop selection of lines with TSWV and leaf spot resistance.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour photo album.

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Soilborne disease in peanuts

Tim Brenneman, University of Georgia research plant pathologist, focuses his research projects on soilborne disease in peanuts. In the Southwest corner of Georgia, nematodes can cause a lot of damage to peanuts so Brenneman focuses his research at the UGA Attapulgus Research and Education Center on nematodes. “In Attaplugus we have some great fields to study nematodes,” Brenneman says. “The soils are very sandy and very conducive to high nematode populations.”

According to Brenneman, there are some new nematicides and new peanut varieties that are nematode resistant. His research trials focus on two new nematicides and the different ways to use those and use of those new products on susceptible varieties and the new nematode resistant varieties.

Brenneman has also noticed a huge outbreak of white mold this year in Georgia. He says, white mold is one of the oldest diseases for peanuts in Georgia and in his almost 30 years of work, this has been some of the worst white mold he has seen in a long time. The weather conditions have been very favorable for white mold this year.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour photo album.

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Replant decisions for peanuts

Scott Tubbs, University of Georgia cropping systems agronomist, continues his study on peanut plant stands and replant decisions. One study is related to non-uniform skips in the row where there are poor plant stands. Tubbs is trying to assess the yield potential when farmers have low plant populations, large gaps within a row, frequency of gap and length of gap in the row. “The research trial has a variety of skips and gaps within a 40 ft. row and the different combinations gives us the ability to assess the yield potential depending on how bad of a skip gap we have with frequency and duration of uniformed plant stands in a row,” Tubbs says. Part of this research came about from a previous research project on replant decisions on peanuts. “We were reviewing a variety of scenarios in order to determine the best time to replant and the plant populations to trigger a replant and how much time could lapse without losing a lot of yield due to various maturities in the same field.”

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour photo album.

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Insect pressure in peanuts

Mark Abney, University of Georgia research and extension peanut entomologist, says growers have faced a number of insect issues this year but nothing too severe. Farmers have had moderate to heavy thrips pressure, as well as pressure from three-cornered alfalfa hopper and foliage feeding caterpillars.

In his research trials, Abney is studying threshold development projects with thrips and three-cornered alfalfa hopper. In the research trial studying thrips, Abney is looking at thrips feeding damage to determine if farmers need to use supplemental foliar sprays in addition to use of at-plant insecticides. Abney is also looking to develop economic thresholds for three-cornered alfalfa hopper so growers will know when and if they need to treat for that pest.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour photo album.

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Applied research for farmers

Extension plant pathologist with the University of Georgia conducts many research trials focusing on diseases of peanuts. “My research is very much applied and it has to be something that farmers are likely to use,” Kemerait says. “White mold has been the major focus of my research. We have some new and exciting products that have just been labeled for farmers.”

Kemerait is exploring the new products available for farmers and using older products in reduced input ways to try to manage diseases like white mold. Kemerait says, at the same time we are managing white mold we also have to make sure we are managing other diseases like defoliation from peanut leaf spot.

“I believe 2015 will be a year remembered by growers as the year of severe white mold,” Kemerait says. Most growers have struggled at times to manage the disease, even those that have used effective fungicide program. According to Kemerait, we have had a very warm year but the warm temperatures have made the disease like white mold very difficult to manage.

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) has become hard to manage this year as well for growers. According to Kemerait, TSWV has basically been non-existent through the years of 2006 to 2008. Since 2013, Kemerait has noticed a slow and steady increase of TSWV. Unfortunately, there is not much farmers can do about the disease except for using the UGA peanut disease risk index and plant more resistant varieties.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour photo album.