The 32^nd annual Georgia Peanut Tour kicked off with a Hot Topics seminar on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at Crosswinds Golf Club in Savannah, Georgia. The seminar provides an update on the 2018 peanut crop as well as an update on the farm bill and other legislative activities that can have an impact on the peanut industry. Each year the seminar also highlights some of the latest hot topics happening in the industry and this year’s special focus included international activities of peanuts. The speakers provided an overview of the USAID Peanut Innovation Lab, economics relating to the import and export market within the peanut industry, research activities around the world and an overview of the port in Savannah.

Click on the links below to view the speaker presentations.

Update on the 2018 Georgia Peanut Crop – Dr. Scott Monfort, University of Georgia Extension Peanut Agronomist

Washington and Farm Bill Update – Dr. Stanley Fletcher, policy professor at Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College’s Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation

Overview on the USAID Peanut Innovation Lab – Dr. David Hoisington, director of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut, senior research scientist of Crop and Soil Sciences

Peanut research activities around the world – Dr. Yen-Con Hung, professor of food science and technology at the University of Georgia

Savannah – A port for peanut international trade – Lee Beckmann, manager of governmental affairs with the Georgia Ports Authority (Coming soon!)

The 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

At this stop, tour attendees were able to see a different aspect of peanut farming compared to previous stops. Vic Fleet, owner of Rolling Hills Farm, Inc., located in Colquitt, Georgia, plants green peanuts for  boiling.  A boiled peanut, botanically, is like a regular peanut. However, boiled peanuts are harvested earlier when they are still immature, and they are then boiled and soaked in salt water. The handling of green peanuts is completely different than that of a commercial grown peanut. A green peanut is a perishable product, and if not dried or frozen, will start rotting from the moment it is harvested.

Once the green peanuts have been picked, they are taken to be washed, put into crates and then refrigerated until they are boiled, frozen or processed. Fleet has been in the green peanut business for about 10 years now. His peanuts are sold for $1.00 per pound and in 40 pound crates for $40.00. Vic begins to plant his green peanuts in April, which is earlier than commercial peanuts. On Fleet’s farm, he plants GA 11, which is a Virginia variety. This variety is a larger nut and is easier to get out of the shell. Fleet plants an average of 250 acres of peanuts, which he sells commercially. He uses 12 of those acres for his green boiling peanut business.

Of course, after all the talk about these delicious green boiled peanuts, tour attendees were treated with this wonderful southern staple. Many of the attendees had never tried boiled peanuts before.

Brock Ward, Miller County Extension agent, told the group that one quarter of everything that comes through Miller County is centered around peanuts.

View the 2015 Georgia Peanut Tour Album