Bob Kemerait, Extension specialist with the University of Georgia (UGA) in plant pathology and chairman of the Georgia Peanut Tour is excited for the kick-off of the 28th Annual Peanut Tour in the East Georgia area. He is especially proud of Georgia’s peanut production and the growers who produce such excellent peanuts – the best in the world. The tour initially started to try to bring education of the peanut industry to the state of Georgia, which produces nearly half of all peanuts in the U.S. The tour is a great opportunity for anyone interested or associated with peanut industry to come and learn more about the industry in Georgia and receive an up close look at the industry. Attendees will be able to visit growers’ fields and learn more about the practices and management of pests, diseases and weeds. Participants will be able to see digging and harvest of peanuts while on the field visits. Attendees will also tour Birdsong Ogeechee Peanut Buying Point to learn more about the grading process. According to Kemerait, the tour group is also going to visit the Port of Savannah and learn more about the peanut export market. Research based information is critical for growers so tour attendees will be visiting the Southeast Georgia Research and Education Center in Midville. Individuals not able to attend the tour, can follow along at www.georgiapeanuttour.com.
Tour provides an overview of peanut production from the farm to processing
The twenty-eighth annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be held Sept. 16-18, 2014, and centrally located out of the Savannah, Georgia area. The tour brings the latest information on peanuts while providing 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 Bulloch, Burke, Screven, Tattnall and Toombs. 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 field visits, the Port of Savannah, Birdsong Ogeechee Peanut Buying Point in Brooklet, the University of Georgia Southeast Research and Education Center in Midville and Vidalia Valley.
One special interest of the tour has always been the Hot Topics on Peanuts Seminar which will be held Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 3 p.m. This year’s seminar, held at the Holiday Inn & Suite in Pooler, Georgia, will include speakers providing an update on the 2014 Georgia peanut crop, peanut policy and market updates, and a special focus on the Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab.
The Georgia Peanut Tour is coordinated by the Georgia Peanut Commission, the University of Georgia- Griffin and Tifton Campuses, Southwest Georgia Research & Education Center, Attapulgus Research & Education Center and the USDA/ARS National Peanut Research Lab. The Georgia Peanut Tour blog will cover all aspects of the tour so those not attending may follow along at www.georgiapeanuttour.com.
2014 Tour Schedule
Day One Tour Map & Driving Directions
Day Two Tour Map & Driving Directions
2014 Georgia Peanut Tour set for Savannah area
We welcome your participation and encourage you to join us for the 28th Annual Georgia Peanut Tour to be held September 16-18, 2014. The tour will begin with the optional “Hot Topics” seminar on Tuesday, September 16, at 3:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Pooler, Georgia. This seminar will highlight the current status of peanut production in Georgia, peanut policy and market update, a special focus on the Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab, and more. The tour will officially kick-off with an orientation on Wednesday, September 17, at 7:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn & Suites. The caravan will pull out from the hotel promptly at 8:00 a.m. directly following orientation. Throughout the two days of touring, participants will have the opportunity to visit peanut growers’ fields, tour a peanut buying point, hear some of the world-class research being done in peanuts, tour the Savannah Port, and much more!
Registration for the Georgia Peanut Tour is now closed. If you have questions, contact Hannah Jones at 229-386-3470.
View Tour Schedule
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What’s Peanut Tour without a Low-Country Boil?
After two full days of peanut education , peanut tour attendees were treated to a tasteful low- country boil and friendly fellowship at Quail Branch Lodge in Lake Park , Ga. sponsored by Dow AgroSciences,
Marvin Stewart, regional sales rep. with Dow AgroSciences, h
as attended all 27 peanut tours and has cooked for every year. Supper was finished up with three different kinds of ice cream samples including Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Chocolate with Peanut Butter swirls and Snickers ice cream.
Chris Butts, peanut tour committee chairman, recognized Emory Murphy, with the Georgia Peanut Commission and Dr. John Beasley, with the University of Georgia for attending all 27 tours. Murphy and Beasley will both be retiring at the end of this year. We would like to thank each of them for their hard work and dedication to the Georgia Peanut Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!
Peanuts, get your peanuts!
After leaving R.L Cunningham’s, tour attendees loaded up and traveled south to Birdsong Peanuts in Lee, Fla. This Birdsong location is a direct buying point for the farmers. Attendees had the opportunity to view Birdsong’s grading room, moisture room and storage room at the site. This facility is able to dry 52 loads of peanuts at one time with dryers reaching 95 degrees.
Gerald Garland, manager of the Southeast Birdsong location, said they have only graded three days so far this season. Twenty loads are needed before the grading process can begin. Due to the 40 inches of rain Madison County received in June, peanut farmers are a little behind and peanut grading is expected to begin full-force in roughly two weeks. This Birdsong location is also the only location that owns a farm, as well as a buying point. The Birdsong farm in Lee, Fla., produced 1,500 acres of peanuts last year.
Carl Hobbs, a crop consultant, was also at this stop. Here he talked about his contracts with farmers in Florida, Georgia and the lower half of Alabama and South Carolina. With these states, he does periodic checks of soil sample work and looks for new methods to improve the health of peanut plants. Along with Hobbs, Heath Herndon talked about visiting fields to look at moisture and disease levels to decide how to treat plants for diseases.
Dan Fenneman, Madison County extension agent, updated tour attendees on peanut acreage in Madison County. There are roughly 7,600 acres of peanuts planted in Madison County. Peanuts are among one of the main crops planted in this county along with corn and soybeans. Peanuts in this area are mostly irrigated as opposed to dry land. Rain has been a major issue with peanut production this year, as well as a fairly cool season, which has led to an early harvest. Farmers are now beginning to face a dry spell. Between 3,200 and 3,400 tons per acre is expected to be yielded this upcoming season.
It all starts with a seed: R.L. Cunningham & Sons
After lunch at the Brooks County Ag Center, tour participants made their way to R.L. Cunningham & Sons in Quitman, Ga. Just to give you a brief history on this organization, R.L. Cunningham & Sons began when (Robert) Cunningham, Sr. started shelling seed peanuts in 1942 in what was then known as the old mattress factory, located on Washington Street across the tracks from the railroad depot in Quitman. For 16 years, he shelled high quality seed peanuts, and then expanded the operation to include a peanut buying point complete with dryers, drying wagons and a 2,000 ton warehouse. Through the ’60s and ’70s, the operation continued to grow. So much that they added another warehouse, several more dryers and built a new peanut shelling plant.
Today, R.L. Cunningham & Sons has storage for 8,000 tons of peanuts. The operation includes semi drying trailers and state of the art drying equipment. A small grain cleaning and bagging facility serves area farmers with custom cleaning and storage. Still, at the heart of the company is the peanut seed sheller. This year, 2013, will mark 72 continuous years in the peanut seed shelling business.
While at this stop, Larry Cunningham and Chris Cunningham with , R.L. Cunningham & Sons, discussed their peanut shelling operation. Along with shelling, the process of peanut drying and the important role it plays in the shelling process (and ultimately in the quality of peanut seed) was covered. Something new for R.L. Cunningham to show off was their solar panel technology and an interactive website where producers can track their peanuts throughout the grading process from start to finish. Additionally, tour participants had the opportunity to see the facility as a buying point operation.
Brooks County Ag Update
Stephanie Hollifield, Brooks County Extension Coordinator, provided information to the Georgia Peanut Tour participants on agricultural production in Brooks County. Hollifield stated peanuts were one of the most important crops in Brooks County. There were a total of 6,383 acres planted this year, with over 32 percent of the peanuts irrigated and over 67 percent dryland. Concerning the estimated peanut production in tons for the county, she says that county averages more than 4,000 lbs, with the yield potential for the 06G and 07W varieties at 5,000+ lbs. The major crops in Brooks County include cotton, peanuts, vegetables, pecans and peaches. Making timely applications of all crop inputs with excessive rainfall, including gypsum application and a necessary shorter spray interval between fungicide sprays, as well as the fact that the majority of peanuts were considered a high risk index on Peanut RX for the disease spray have been the most troublesome production issues for area farmers this year. However, Stephanie says that so far the peanut crop in the county looks good to excellent. The profiles that have been conducted this year look great and they are progressing nicely. As Hollifield said, “they’re cooking in the ground.”
During our time in Brooks County, attendees had the opportunity to visit the family farm of Mr. John Burton. Here they were able to see first-hand, the process of digging peanuts. Burton demonstrated peanut digging on a field planted on May 7. Attendees were able to watch how the peanuts are dug and turned over, and then take a closer look at them above ground.
Van Murphy, representative with BCT Gin, was also present at the farm stop. BCT Gin is owned by peanut and cotton farmers in Brooks, Colquitt and Thomas Counties. Murphy commended the farmers for their work and thanked the guests of the Georgia Peanut Tour for making Brooks County one of their stops. After getting the opportunity to look at some great peanuts, tour attendees loaded back up in the bus and headed to the Brooks County Ag Center for lunch.
Lowndes County Ag Update
After leaving DuPont’s facility, the Peanut Tour caravan headed to the north side of Lowndes County for a local farm stop. Jake Price, Lowndes County extension agent, provided information to the Georgia Peanut Tour participants on agricultural production in Lowndes County. Lowndes County major crops are cotton, corn, peanuts, tobacco and soybeans. The south end of the county grows primarily vegetables. Price said urban agriculture has grown recently with more nurseries and golf courses becoming popular. When looking at irrigation and dryland, Price said peanuts and cotton are mostly dryland and corn and tobacco are mostly irrigated. For peanuts, Lowndes County grows mostly Georgia 06 and Florida 07 varieties. This year’s major issue has been the large amount of rainfall the county has received. In past years, the burrower bug has been a problem, but this year it has not been as troublesome. Farmers in Lowndes County have started digging and Price said he expects most fields to yield well with approximately 4,500-6000 lbs per acre.
While at this stop, attendees had the opportunity to see one of Lowndes County’s peanut fields that has struggled with the amount of rainfall received this year. See the photo above. The field is farmed by Wes Shannon, Georgia Peanut Commission advisory board member, and his son. Check out the video clip below of Wes and his son discussing the Georgia Greeners planted in this field.
Crop protection tools to help farmers feed the world!
To begin the second day of the 2013 Georgia Peanut Tour, attendees arrived at the DuPont Crop Protection facility in Valdosta, Ga. This particular facility produces crop protection materials such as fungicides for application on peanuts. The tour began in DuPont’s shipping and receiving area where ingredients are brought into the plant and finished products are shipped out. From there, attendees were able to visit the area of the plant where liquid formulation of fungicide takes place. At this particular DuPont plant, the fungicide Fontelis is manufactured. In the formulation room, dry ingredients are added to liquid ingredients and then milled and charged in large tanks. From there, the product travels through pipes to the packaging room where jugs are filled and labeled. In this room, it takes 45 seconds for the machines to fill three cycles worth of jugs. One cycle equals 6 jugs, so that means 18 jugs are filled in 45 seconds. Pretty impressive! To fill 180 gallons (approximately 72 jugs) and send them through packaging, it takes approximately 15 minutes. Employees are able to rely on precise ergonomic equipment that is being used throughout the formulation and packaging process to ensure accuracy and quality. Speaking of quality, DuPont prides itself on several ethical codes; two of them being quality and safety. Quality control and analysis is monitored throughout the entire production process. This includes formulation of the product and packaging of the product. As for safety, DuPont believes safety is important for not only customers of their product, but also for their employees working at the plant.
Good southern cooking at Carter’s Catfish House
Peanut Tour attendees wrapped up the first day of the tour tonight with some of the South’s finest traditions as they licked their fingers and sipped on sweet tea from Carter’s Catfish House in Adel, Ga. Carter’s Catfish House is locally-owned by Matt Carter who is known for his restaurant’s hospitality.
Albert Culbreath, with the University of Georgia, treated us all to some good ol’ pickin’ & grinnin’ before we sat down for supper. Attendees gathered around Culbreath to listen to him play the banjo on the front porch of the Catfish House as they casually drank and socialized.
Attendee’s were treated to fried chicken, fried catfish, home-style mashed potatoes, green beans… and of course grits. Wait, what’s a full supper without dessert? 
Supper was followed-up with some desserts that will make you go “nuts!” Mouthwatering peanut butter pie and nutter butter banana pudding was the talk of the night. After winding down from well-spent evening with good food, attendees will be gearing up for day 2 of the tour tomorrow morning at stop No. 1: DuPont.