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.

We would like to welcome you to the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour. Whether this is your first time joining us or you are a “Peanut Tour Veteran,” we are very happy to host you on our 38^th tour. As in previous years, you will be immersed in the production of one of Georgia’s most important agricultural crops. We hope this experience gives you greater insight into the challenges our farmers face, as well as the many reasons we proudly say that the world’s best peanuts are produced in Georgia. On this year’s tour you will be see peanut production from A to Z. It is our hope that you will come away with a great understanding and appreciation of the legacy, hard work, and dedication that go into peanut production in our state. Those engaged in the peanut industry, including farmers, buyers, processors, researchers, Extension personnel, and representatives of the Georgia Peanut Commission, are proud that Georgia is the leading peanut-producing state in the United States, and we are excited to share this year’s crop with you.

The 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour is staged in the south-east region of our state’s production area and begins on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 22, with a “Hot Topics” symposium. Expert speakers will provide updates on the status of this year’s peanut crop, with a special focus on enhancing the resilience of the peanut industry.

The next two days of the tour will provide opportunities to learn more about peanut production, research, processing and more. Field visits will give you a glimpse of peanut production, digging, and harvest. You will also learn about the important role research plays in the peanut industry, from improving crop production in Georgia to managing pests and addressing other challenges facing growers. The tour will also take you through several important parts of the peanut industry and production chain, including stops at the Ports of Savannah, the Southeast Research and Education Center, Mana Nutrition and other locations.

Again, on behalf of the Peanut Tour Committee, with members from the USDA-ARS Peanut Lab, the Georgia Peanut Commission, and the University of Georgia, I warmly welcome you to the 38^th Georgia Peanut Tour! We hope that over the next few days you will better appreciate 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 that you enjoy Georgia’s hospitality exploring a beautiful, rural part of our state. We offer our sincere thanks to all the sponsors, who through their generosity, help make this tour possible. Please do not hesitate to let us know how we can help you as we travel the highways and byways of our state’s production area. We are proud of our peanut farmers and our peanut industry, and we are happy that we can share them with you.

View the 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

The thirty-eight annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be held Sept. 22-24, 2026, in Savannah, Georgia, and the 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 in South Georgia.

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, research at the University of Georgia Southeast Research and Education Center, Georgia Ports Authority and MANA Nutrition.

The tour kicks off this year with the Hot Topics Seminar on Sept. 22 at 2:30 p.m. at The Clyde Venue in Savannah, Georgia. The seminar topics include an update on the 2026 Georgia peanut crop and a special focus on production challenges, enhancing production and climate issues with emphasis on irrigation, fertilizer and other inputs.

For attendees flying, the closest airport is the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Savannah, Georgia. Hotel accommodations can be made at the host hotels, Embassy Suites Savannah Historic District or the Hampton Inn & Suites Savannah Historic District in Savannah, Georgia, by calling 800-548-8690 and mention the code 90P for Embassy Suites and 90W for Hampton Inn. Reservations can also be made online. The room block’s deadline is Aug. 7, 2026.

For specific tour info or details, contact David West at 229-386-3470.

The Georgia Peanut Commission, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the USDA-ARS National Peanut Laboratory coordinate the tour.

Register online  (Online Registration Now Closed)
Print Registration Form
Download Tour Schedule
Driving Directions & Maps – Wednesday
(Thursday map not available since everyone will be riding the buses)
Download Sponsorship Packet

After leaving MANA Nutrition, tour attendees hopped on I-75 and headed south to Tifton Quality Peanuts in Tifton, Georgia. Tifton Quality Peanuts began its shelling operation in 2005 and has been running strong ever since. The company is a grower-owned shelling facility. One of the highlights of the tour was the very large domes where the peanuts are stored. Each of the three domes can hold up to approximately 13,000 tons of peanuts. Between the domes and additional warehouses, the facility can store up to 70,000 tons on site.

Attendees walked through the entire shelling process. It begins with peanuts being moved out of storage and into the plant, where they pass through a series of machines. First, the peanuts go through cleaning equipment to remove dirt, rocks, and other foreign materials. From there, they enter a rotating machine that breaks open the hulls, allowing the kernels to separate. The peanuts then move on to a color sorter, which detects defects in each kernel. Defective peanuts are identified by specific colors and separated from the high-quality kernels. Next, the kernels are sized before being packed into large totes and placed in cold storage.

So where do the peanuts go once they are shelled? Companies like Mars Snackfoods, Hershey, and Tom’s Snacks purchase them to use in some of your favorite treats!

View the 2025 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Tour attendees visiting MANA Nutrition in Fitzgerald, 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. The Fitzgerald facility spans 135,000 square feet and has the capacity to produce 500,000 pounds of RUTF per day—enough to help feed up to 10 million children each year.

View the 2025 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Attendees had the opportunity to visit a buying point in the heart of Coffee County, Georgia. Douglas Peanut and Grain Company serves as the first point of delivery for freshly harvested peanuts in the county. Once peanuts are harvested from the field, farmers must first tag their load right there in the field before transporting it—either in wagons or semi-trailers—to the buying point.

At the buying point, the peanuts undergo a drying process while still in the wagon. Once they are dried to the required moisture percentage, a sample is pulled, and the grading process begins. Grading is carried out by the Georgia Federal-State Inspection Service. After grading, the peanuts are moved into storage warehouses and eventually hauled to shellers for the next stage of processing.

View the 2025 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

In September 2024, a devastating hurricane tore through South Georgia, leaving the state’s agricultural industry with a major blow. Chicken houses were demolished, irrigation pivots overturned, and equipment sheds collapsed. Georgia farmers were unsure how they would move forward. Hurricane Helene tested their faith, but through resilience, determination, and heart, they began to clean up and rebuild. That is exactly what Clay McKinnon did. Tour attendees heard his story on the very farm that was once full of devastation.

Clay McKinnon is a third-generation farmer in Coffee and Atkinson counties. He farms alongside his father, Wayne. The McKinnons grow peanuts, cotton, corn, soybeans, and blueberries, in addition to raising poultry.

Ashley Smith, Extension agent, and Clay shared in detail the damage his farm sustained. Winds reached 125 mph as Helene tore through the area. The McKinnons lost five poultry houses, grain bins, and equipment sheds; pivots were overturned; debris scattered their fields; and their row crops, timber, and blueberries were heavily damaged. The estimated cost of the destruction was approximately $3 million.

Through it all, Clay pressed forward. Standing on the farm today, tour attendees saw new poultry houses, upright irrigation pivots, and healthy rows of peanuts and cotton. Everything on display stood as a testament to Clay’s resilience and passion for farming.

Additionally, at this stop, Ashley Smith walked attendees through a variety trial she has worked on with Clay. The varieties featured were GA-22MPR, GA-21GR, GA-23RKN, GA-06G, TIFNVHG, DG913, ARNIE, and FLORUN 52N.

View the 2025 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

The 2025 Georgia Peanut Tour concluded with dinner hosted at the Quail Branch Lodge. Quail Branch Lodge is the premier wedding destination located in Lake Park, Georgia, offering a complete array of amenities to fulfill every bride’s dream wedding. The lodge is set amongst nature pine forests, vast agriculture expanses and pristine waters.

Nestled deep within this refuge from the business-world, guests enjoy the spoils of privilege, relaxing in their lake front lodge after a long day. Enjoy refreshments in a comfortable rocking chair on the porch, grab some tackle and troll the lake or simply relax by the fireplace joining in on the camaraderie sharing the day’s events with valued friends.  The Quail Branch Lodge staff will make you feel right at home and the memories you create will last a lifetime.

A Georgia Peanut Tour tradition, the Wednesday night meal featured the famous low country boil and peanut-inspired ice cream sponsored by Corteva Agriscience. Corteva has sponsored the low country boil for many years, making it a tradition most all tour attendees look forward to. The boil includes shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn.

View the 2025 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Attendees had the opportunity to watch a combine make its way up the rows of turned peanuts in Cook County, Georgia, today. A combine is used to harvest peanuts. It separates the peanuts from the vine, placing them in a hopper on top of the machine while returning the vines to the field.

Cook County is a hub for Georgia agriculture, producing a wide variety of crops including peanuts, cotton, corn, fruits, and vegetables. Approximately 10,000 acres of peanuts alone are grown in the heart of Cook County. Another unique commodity that many might not expect is persimmons. At one point, Cook County had the most acres of commercial persimmon production in the nation.

View the 2025 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Established in 1983, BCT Gin Company, Inc. handles cotton, peanuts, corn, and small grains with operations in Quitman, Berlin, Pavo, Adel, and Moultrie.

The shareholders and Board of Directors knew this company needed managers who were knowledgeable in farming and would also have the foresight and skills to take this company to new levels of success and growth. The positions were filled with enthusiastic and qualified individuals who were dedicated and determined to meet the needs of the farmers. Forty years later, Steve Bullard is the Executive Manager and Jessica Goodman is the Executive Office Manager over all the divisions. It is with great pride, BCT Gin’s shareholders, managers, staff and employees have looked back at the end of every ginning season and said, “A job well done.” And wondering how they could do it even better the next season.

Dedication and drive like this is what brought BCT Gin Company to the level of success it is today. BCT has expanded over the years with numerous locations. Maintaining three ginning facilities, three peanut buying points, a grain facility and a warehouse for storage. With new upgrades, BCT is always ready to meet the customer’s needs.

BCT can safely and proudly say it has met the demands of existing customers and is prepared to meet the needs of any new customers. The company and its leaders have made their mark in the cotton and peanut industry. From getting cotton and peanuts out of the field, to marketing and selling the crop at the best prices, BCT Gin management is well known and respected throughout the industry for insight, knowledge, and expertise in cotton and peanut production and marketing.

BCT would consider it an honor to assist any farmer with any questions or problems they may have. BCT believes in customer relations and satisfaction. No matter how big or small, BCT’s goal is to work with every farmer with equal effort because every farmer is a valued customer.

While at BCT, tour attendees were treated with homemade ice cream with an array of flowers including peach, blueberry, and strawberry. The ice cream was from a local shop right down the road called Burton Brooks Peach Orchard. Following ice cream, attendees took a walk throught the cotton gin seeing how the process takes place and also recieved insight on current technologies on modern day equipment.

Now you make ask why attendees were brought to a cotton gin while on a peanut tour. Farmers must rotate their crops and peanuts and cotton often go hand in hand. Jessica Goodman stated while on the tour that 100% of their peanut growers also grow cotton.

View the 2025 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album