Author: joycrosby

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Attapulgus Research and Education Center

billy at attapulgusThe Attapulgus Research and Education Center is located in the deep southwest corner of Georgia near the town of Attapulgus, Georgia, about 5 miles north of the Florida line. The warm, humid climate is ideal for major agricultural insect, weed, nematode and disease problems. This provides a unique place for UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences researchers to conduct studies in a controlled atmosphere to help farmers economically and environmentally deal with these challenges and to screen new crop varieties with pest resistance.

Farmers in this region grow many crops. The research here reflects that diversity. Researchers and staff work with peanuts, corn, cotton, soybeans, peaches, peppers, squash, sweet corn, snap beans and watermelons.

The center was originally the Shade Tobacco Experiment Station, established in 1939 to help the region’s many shade tobacco farmers at the time. It operated under the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia. In the 1950s, the Campbell Soup Company Research Farm in nearby Climax, Georgia, was interested in growing okra and other horticultural crops and requested that such research be conducted on the station. The station continued to assist shade tobacco farmers, too, until cheaper labor drew the industry to South America in the early 1970s.

In 1974, with the shade tobacco industry gone from Georgia, the name was changed to the Extension-Research Center. The new center helped the former shade tobacco farmers learn to grow vegetable crops. In 1990, it was named the Attapulgus Research Farm. It later became the research and education center it is today.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour photo album.

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Welcome to Thomas County

Welcome to Thomas County, Georgia, the host city of the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour. Thomas County is located in South Central Georgia and known for its big oak trees, prosperous agriculture and thriving industries. Thomas County was created in 1825 from portions of Decatur and Irwin counties. Georgia’s 63rd county, and its county seat, Thomasville, were named for a hero of the War of 1812, General Jett Thomas. Thomasville is known for its annual Rose Festival; for the “Big Oak,” which has a limb spread of 175 feet; and for the McKinley Memorial Tree planted in 1896 as a salute to candidate William McKinley, who became the 25th President of the United States. Thomasville was a popular, turn-of-the-century, winter resort for wealthy northern families. Non-residents still maintain many large estates and hunting preserves. Many of these estates are listed on the National Register of Historic Places including the Susina Plantation Inn and the Lapham-Patterson House.

Since Thomasville is known for its history, then it was only fitting to hold one of the meals on the tour at the oldest restaurant in the state of Georgia – The Plaza Restaurant.  Established in 1916, The Plaza has been the restaurant generations of southwest Georgians have come to for fabulous meals, celebrate special occasions, break bread with elected officials, or just enjoy the company of family and loved ones. Over the years The Plaza has had a variety of owners, most of whom were of Greek heritage. In 2007 a new era for The Plaza began when it was purchased from George Mathes, Andrew Poulos, and Angelo Mathes by Michael Regina, a visionary restauranteur and chef.  Born in Manhattan and raised in upstate New York, Michael Regina owned and operated restaurants in New York from 1984 to 1998. Since coming to Thomasville it has been his mission to make The Plaza an even greater restaurant.

andrewsawyerDuring the meal, Andrew Sawyer, University of Georgia Thomas County Extension agent, provided an overview of agriculture in the county. According to Sawyer, the top commodities in Thomas County include cotton (30,000 acres), peanuts (9,000 acres) and pecans (2,800 acres of orchards). There is also 200,000 acres of forest land. Agriculture is the number one business in the county which is also known for its plantations. The majority of acreage in Thomas County is dryland and farmers have struggled with white mold and tomato spotted wilt virus this year. To continue learning more about Thomas County agriculture visit Sawyer’s blog at www.thomascountyag.com.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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Peanut processing and utilization

FoodPIC imageThe 2015 Hot Topics Seminar focused this year on peanut processing and utilization. During the seminar, Dr. Kirk Kealey provided an overview of the University of Georgia Food Product Innovation & Commercialization Center (FoodPIC).  FoodPIC assists companies in developing new food products efficiently and economically. The center facilitates commercialization of food products by providing intellectual resources and physical facilities for both start-up ventures and existing food companies. FoodPIC was initiated by faculty in the Department of Food Science and Technology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and associates of the University of Georgia. All are internationally recognized for development of innovative food products. The center is located in Griffin, Georgia, on the UGA Griffin Campus. It is approximately 30 miles south of the Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta Airport.

In addition to learning about FoodPIC, additional food scientists Dr. Koushik Adhikari, Dr. Yen-Con Hung, Dr. Dick Phillips and Dr. Jinru Chen provided information on consumer and sensory evaluation, peanut flour and oil, and probiotics in peanut butter. According to Dr. Adhikari, runner peanuts have been the dominant peanut type since 1979. The runner type of peanuts are grown primarily in Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. The runner type of peanuts accounts for approximately 80 percent of the peanuts grown in the U.S. and mainly used for processing peanut butter. The runner type is also very poplar due to its good flavor and roasting characteristics especially for peanut butter.

View the presentations:
Dr. Kirk Kealey – Overview of UGA FoodPIC Center
Dr. Koushik Adhikari – Flavor of Roasted Peanuts
Dr. Yen-Con Hung – Utilization of peanut flour and oil
Drs. Dick Phillips & Jinru Chen – Peanuts in Life-Sustaining and Life-Sparing Foods

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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Overview of the 2015 Georgia peanut crop

The Georgia peanut crop looks very pretty good overall says Scott Monfort, University of Georgia peanut agronomist, during the Georgia Peanut Tour Hot Topics Seminar. More than likely our state average yield for this year will be approximately 4,300 lbs. per acre which is roughly 200 lbs. off of record yields recorded in 2012. Part of the reasons for a slight decline in yield is due to weather conditions – some areas had drought conditions, some had adequate rain and some had ideal weather so there will be a large discrepancy across the state on how good the crop looks. Many farmers are beginning to dig the early planted peanuts with a small percentage of acres being dug early due to disease. With 771,000 acres in the state, some farmers planted peanuts behind peanuts and that has caused an increase in some diseases and a potential decline in yields.

Peanuts are a very big crop for a lot of growers in the state of Georgia, especially the Southwest corner of the state, Monfort says. Growers in this historical peanut growing area produce some of the highest yields in the state. The tour will visit farmers in Grady, Decatur and Miller County to learn more about issues farmers face, how peanuts are harvested and more.

Download Scott Monfort’s presentation.

View time lapse video of peanuts from planting in May to July 2015.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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Welcome to the Georgia Peanut Tour

pnuttourhdr2015flatThe 29th Annual Georgia Peanut Tour is ready to kick off today at the Rose City Conference Center in Thomasville, Georgia with the Hot Topics Seminar. The three-day event showcases all aspects of peanut production from the farm to peanut processing facilities. This year we are proud to have participants from 13 states and two countries on the tour. We are excited to have you travel with us as we visit various sites to learn more about the effort, care and even passion invested in producing the world’s finest peanuts! We sincerely appreciate each of you for joining us on this exciting tour that will introduce you to the peanut industry in Georgia, and hope through the experience of this 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 couldn’t be more excited you are joining us for the next three days!

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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Georgia Peanut Tour set for Sept. 15-17, 2015

2014gapnuttourThe twenty-ninth annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be held September 15-17, 2015, and located out of Southwest Georgia at the Best Western Rose City Conference Center Inn, Thomasville, Georgia. 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 Thomas, Grady, Decatur, Seminole and Early County.

Attendees can expect to see first-hand nearly every aspect of peanut production in the state. This year’s tour hosts many exciting stops including on-farm harvest demonstrations and clinics, peanut processing facilities, and several special highlights which include research at the University of Georgia Research & Education Center in Attapulgus, Lewis M. Carter Manufacturing, Fudge-Birdsong Peanuts Buying Point and Birdsong Peanuts Shelling Plant.

The tour kicks off this year with the Hot Topics Seminar on Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. at the Best Western Rose City Conference Center Inn, Thomasville, Georgia. The seminar topics include an update on the 2015 Georgia peanut crop, a Washington legislative update and consumer peanut  information including peanut flour and oil as well as probiotics in peanut butter.

The Georgia Peanut Commission, University of Georgia-Tifton Campus and Griffin Campus, Southwest Research & Education Center, Attapulgus Research & Education Center, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service National Peanut Research Lab coordinate the tour.

Hotel accommodations can be made at the Best Western in Thomasville, Georgia, by calling 229-226-9998. Rooms are available at the rate of $101 for a  single/double room and $115 for a suite. Once the Best Western is full, additional hotel accommodations can be made at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites by calling 229-226-4666. Be sure to ask for the Georgia Peanut Tour room block.

Visit georgiapeanuttour.com to register and view tour schedule. For more information, contact Hannah Jones at   hannah@gapeanuts.com or call at 229-386-3470.

Register online
Print registration form
Tentative Tour Schedule
View Sponsorship Packet

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Harvest at Hub Daniel’s farm

2014_gpt_252sThe last field stop on the 2014 Georgia Peanut Tour allowed attendees to see harvest up close at the farm of Hub Daniel in Tattnall County. At earlier field stops the ground was too wet for farmers to demonstrate peanut digging or picking. Daniel is a fifth generation farmer and has been farming for 34 years. He grows 2,700 acres of peanuts, corn, soybeans, cotton, wheat, rye and pecans. Check out this video where WTOC recognized Hub Daniel. While at the farm, attendees were able to see Daniel harvest his peanuts with a KMC combine and continue to pick peanuts by using KMC’s unload on-the-go. This option saves farmers time loss to dumping by allowing continuous harvesting.

Unload on the Go

View the 2014 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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New products for disease control

Bob Kemerait, Georgia Peanut Tour chairman and University of Georgia Extension Plant Pathologist, reviewed some of the new products available for growers in 2015. His main focus is helping to train county agents and work with the growers in terms of management and reducing the impact of diseases in their fields. He is also given the opportunity to conduct research on new products for the management of leafspot, white mold and other soilborne diseases in peanuts.

View the 2014 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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Peanut disease update

Attendees also learned about peanut diseases from Dr. Tim Brenneman, University of Georgia research and Extension plant pathologist. His main research on peanuts revolves around soil borne diseases including white mold, Rhizoctonia, Cylindrocladium black rot. He also works on nematodes and nematode management. He works on a very active program developing fungicides and overall management programs for farmers. According to Brenneman, the 2014, crop has not been severe for disease issues so far. Early on we had a few issues with seedling disease, Aspergillus Crown rot and getting good stands established. That was early in the year so most farmers were able to get a reasonable stand. “Recently, we have had a lot of underground white mold and I think we are in the initial stages on seeing how that will develop,” Brenneman says. “I think there is a lot we will learn as peanuts are being dug.”

View the 2014 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.

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Calcium – important nutrient for peanuts

While at the Southeast Georgia Research and Education Center, Glen Harris University of Georgia Extension soils and fertilizer specialist visited with attendees about calcium nutrition for peanuts. For the last three or four years we’ve really focused on calcium nutrition on peanuts, Harris says. The focus started when the industry shifted from small seeded to large seeded peanut varieties. Harris has been comparing the varieties and the calcium requirements needed. According to Harris, he found out that growers can maintain using the University of Georgia old recommendations on the new larger seeded peanut varieties.

Since then, Harris’ research has shifted more into looking at ways of providing calcium to the pegging zone of peanuts which is really important for the yields. He is also looking at different gypsums, calcium chloride and lime through the pivot. Although, the old standard Extension recommendation is if you need calcium then apply 1,000 pounds of gypsum at bloom time is still the standard today for growers.

The 2014 peanut crop of irrigated peanuts look good but the dryland peanuts have suffered a little. As far as nutrients, Harris says, he hasn’t noticed any major nutrient problems. However, he is a little concerned with the calcium nutrition in dryland because you need the water to get the calcium into the nut so you don’t get pops. “So, we might find that we have a little lower yields and pops, due not only to the drought, but maybe even due to some calcium issues,” Harris says. He says there’s not a whole lot growers can do about that, if you do everything you can and still get dry weather. But overall, the 2014 crop, nutritionally, is looking very good, he adds.

View the 2014 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.