The thirty-sixth annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be held September 17-19, 2024, in Americus, 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, as well as, research at the University of Georgia Southwest Georgia Research and Education Center and the USDA-ARS National Peanut Research Lab.

Hotel accommodations can be made at the host hotel, The Windsor in Americus, Georgia by calling 229-331-7076. A standard room ranges from $129 – $199++ (depending on room type). Breakfast is not included in the room at The Windsor. Be sure to ask for the 2024 Georgia Peanut Tour room block when making a reservation. Additional rooms are available at the Hampton Inn in Americus. A standard room is $129++ (breakfast included). Call 229-924-3890 and mention the Georgia Peanut Tour for a discounted rate. The room block’s deadline is Aug. 16, 2024.

For attendees flying, the closest airport is the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport in Albany, Georgia.

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.

Registration for the 2024 Georgia Peanut Tour is now closed.
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Tour Schedule
Map & Driving Directions – Wed., Sept. 18 & Thurs., Sept. 19.

During the final stop on the Georgia Peanut Tour attendees were able to tour the grower-owned peanut processing facility, American Peanut Growers Group, which is based in Donalsonville, Georgia. Throughout the tour, attendees were able to visit the buying point, shelling plant, blancher and learn more about APGG’s new peanut ingredient processing facility. APGG was formed in late 2002 and the company includes two buying points, two shelling plants, one blancher, one cold storage facility, multiple warehouses, a feed mill, a solar field for renewable energy and their newest venture, a ready-to-eat peanut ingredient facility.

Neal Flannagen, president and CEO of APGG, welcomed attendees to APGG and provided an overview of the facility. The first step of the process includes peanuts arriving to APGG from the farm. APGG currently processes 80,000 tons of farmer stock peanuts at their buying point.

When peanuts first arrive their moisture level is checked. If the moisture level is not below 10.49 percent, then the peanuts are sent to the drying shed. Once peanuts are dried, they are cleaned if needed and then they are inspected and graded by the Georgia Federal-State Inspection Service. Then the peanuts are stored in a warehouse on-site at APGG until they are needed.

APGG sells raw and blanched peanuts to all major peanut product manufacturers in the U.S. and many companies worldwide. APGG offers bulk packaging to their customers through rail cars or semi-trucks. Additionally, APGG exports peanuts to customers in South America, Europe and Asia, through the port of Savannah, Georgia, which is one of the busiest ports on the east coast of the United States.

APGG has the ability to roast 20,000 pounds of peanuts per hour. After roasting they temper the peanuts for six to eight hours before shipping. Peanuts can also go to the blancher where the red skin is removed. The blanched peanuts are sorted by size, splits are removed, and orders are shipped based on customer specifications.

In 2022, APGG began their newest venture with the creation of the American Peanut Ingredients, LLC (API). The new 140,000 square-foot facility includes an additional shelling plant and a ready-to-eat peanut ingredient plant. The new venture allows API the ability to sale peanut butter in bulk, peanut paste or as a granule.

One unique thing about the grower owners of APGG is that they have a higher percentage of irrigated land than the state average for Georgia. All of the APGG farmer members are excellent growers who deliver exceptional quality and high yields to APGG’s shelling plants.

For more information on APGG visit their website at www.apgg.com.

View the 2023 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

While at LMC Manufacturing, tour attendees had an opportunity to sample grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made by Tyron Spearman, executive director of the National Peanut Buying Points Association.

Tyron Spearman (left) and Wesley Powell grill peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the tour attendees.

Each year, Spearman joins attendees on the tour and gives them a taste of America’s favorite sandwich with a unique twist. Spearman says the key to a great grilled PB&J is to mix your peanut butter and jelly together first before spreading it on the bread. After that, you can butter each side of the sandwich and grill it just like you would a grilled cheese. Be sure to try it at home!

Below is a throwback video from the 2016 tour, where Spearman describes the simple process of making your own grilled PB&J.

View the 2023 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Lewis Carter, Jr. welcomes Georgia Peanut Tour attendees to LMC Manufacturing in Donalsonville, Georgia.

After leaving SunSouth, tour attendees headed over to LMC Manufacturing. With a history of more than 80 years, LMC has been a leader in producing world class machinery. The company offers solutions tailored to meet the needs of a specific industry and/or company. From gravity separation machines and destoners to vibratory conveyors, LMC produces custom-built industrial separation equipment for the customer’s unique processing requirements.

Throughout the years, the Carter family has built equipment ranging from peanut shellers for Georgia farmers to bow hooks for the Navy during World War II. At the root of it all remains the consistent mechanical innovations helping numerous industries operate smarter and more efficiently.

LMC’s focus on process application separates it from other manufacturers. This focus drives them to understand the process and design applications with specific purposes. LMC equipment is custom-built for the required process whether for a food product or recyclable materials and is adaptable for a variety of commodities.

LMC is committed to delivering peanut processing systems and equipment to help peanut processors achieve maximum capacity and efficiency for their dollar. Originating from the rural peanut farms of South Georgia, LMC has become the world leader in peanut shellers and equipment for the peanut shelling process. LMC equipment is responsible for shelling 90 percent of the commercial peanut market. These machines are designed specifically to maximize processing speed along with separation effectiveness.

What makes LMC unique is the staff of peanut specialists that can design, build, deliver and install an entire peanut processing operation. From cleaning to separating, back to cleaning and shelling, LMC equipment can go through the entire process customized to the customer’s specifications. Also, by removing the lower-grade peanut prior to shelling, the end-produce will be of the best quality, yielding the ultimate monetary profit.

Below are some of the types of peanut processing systems LMC can design and build from the ground up. To learn about each, click here.

• Peanut Shellers
• Sizing Shakers
• Destoners
• Aspirators
• Peanut Blanchers
• Vibratory Conveyors
• Gravity Separators
• Easy Dump Elevators
• Air Gap Cleaners

With LMC’s large range of peanut customers, they have made contacts all across the globe including: South America, Australia, the Middle East, Europe and the Western United States including California.

Click the video below to learn more about LMC and the Lewis Carter Family.

View the 2023 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Georgia Peanut Tour attendees began Thursday morning at SunSouth in Donalsonville, Georgia. SunSouth, LLC formed in June 2006. Joining forces with several local tractor cornerstones, SunSouth began with 11 stores, and by 2016 grew to 21 locations in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The SunSouth team prides itself on integrity, quality, commitment and innovation.

SunSouth representative, Russ Worsley, shows tour attendees a KMC digger.

During the stop, SunSouth employees discussed the different types of equipment farmers use to produce a crop of peanuts and the investment it requires. From John Deere tractors to peanut planting and harvesting equipment, as well as equipment to spray the crop when necessary, SunSouth offered tour attendees a chance to understand the cost associated with farming.

Tour attendees learn about the investment of an Amadas combine.

John Deere tractors are on display for tour attendees.

Below is a list of some of the equipment discussed and the estimated cost associated with each:

• John Deere 8R 280 – $360,000
• John Deere 8R 310 – $435,000
• John Deere 6 or 8 row planter – $50,000-$70,000 (depending on specs and technology)
• John Deere 12 row planter – $200,000
• John Deere See & Spray – $800,000+
• KMC Digger – $50,000
• KMC Dump Cart – $75,000
• Amadas Unload-on-the-Go Combine – $240,000

To put it into perspective, a farmer’s peanut yield would have to be near 4,500lbs per acre to breakeven at $535/ton.

View the 2023 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

After enjoying lunch, the Georgia Peanut Tour attendees traveled a short drive up the road to learn more about the equipment farmers need and use in peanut production.

“We design and build farm and land development equipment to give our customers peace of mind that our products will always perform on demand no matter how demanding.” This is the mission statement of Harrell Ag Products, located in Bainbridge, Ga.

Brandon Ellerbee, Harrell Ag Sales Manager, visits with GPT attendees.

Since 1954, the Harrell Family has served the farming community with innovative products, service, parts and technical support that their customers expect and deserve. From land preparation to harvest, Harrell Ag has developed products to meet the farmer’s need every step of the way. In the late ’50s, they introduced the 4-Row Vada Cultivator frame, and in the ’60s and ’70s, they developed a line of cotton and peanut transport equipment, as well as on-farm crop drying equipment. Later in the 1980s and 1990s, cotton module builders, boll buggies and module feeder systems were added to their line up.

 

The on-land switch plow, which is still used around the world today, was patented by Harrell Ag. In the past 20 years, they have continued innovation by introducing new products like a crop chopper, cotton stalk puller and the rock-n-root rake.

 

 

 

With almost 75 years of manufacturing agricultural equipment, the team at Harrell Ag understands the needs of the farming community.

 

To learn more about their products, click here.

To locate a dealer near you, click here.

View the 2023 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Mark Abney, peanut entomologist at the University of Georgia, provided an overview of his work during the 2023 Georgia Peanut Tour. He receives the question many times from people asking, what does the peanut entomologist at University of Georgia do?

According to Abney, peanuts are not really any different than other agricultural commodities and the focus now is on sustainability.

“In order to be sustainable, you have to be profitable and insects threaten profitability right,” Abney says. “Insects in the field are going to eat the crop and they are either eating the leaves and we need leaves to make peanuts or they are eating the peanuts.”

At the end of the day, insects can cost growers money. Even though, Abney can find insects in almost every field in Georgia, the insects do not always need to be controlled. Some of the insects are pests while some of the insects are beneficial. In some cases, the insects present may be a pest but the population in the field may not warrant an insecticide application.

For growers, trying to manage insects can be troublesome. That is where Abney sees his role as the peanut entomologist in helping growers. Abney conducts research on the insects that occur in peanuts, develops thresholds and evaluates chemistry of products for insect management.

When Abney evaluates chemistry, he looks at the insecticides that are available, what works best, what is most economical to put on the peanut crop to manage the insect pests that farmers have so they can preserve yield and preserve profitability.

According to Abney, it is important for individuals to know that farmers don’t kill insects for fun. Farmers work to manage insects in their field and should use insecticides in crops when the insect pest is going to cause yield loss.

“If they’re going to cause yield loss that costs more than what it costs to kill them, then that’s the only time we should manage insect pests in the crop,” Abney says.

Every year is different in terms of insect and disease pressure and 2023 is no different. This production year started out cool and with thrips pressure and tomato spotted wilt virus. In August, farmers had caterpillars including velvet bean caterpillars come in the last few weeks of the growing season.

Abney’s research and extension program focuses on determining what the best products are, what the best tools are and what the best practices are to reduce the risk of insect injury and then control those insects or manage those insects when they do occur in the field.

So, when it gets right down to it the goal of my research and extension program is to understand the insect pests that are present and learn how to best manage them,” Abney says. “Then what can we do to manage them when they occur and then get that information out to our growers so that they can implement those practices on their farm and ultimately preserve yield and profitability.”

View the 2023 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

Albert Culbreath, research plant pathologist at the University of Georgia, started his career in Tifton back in 1989. Culbreath came to the university to work on foliar diseases of peanuts, but tomato spotted wilt virus made an appearance and he has been working on that virus ever since his arrival to Tifton.

“We’ve made a lot of progress. The virus progressed extremely rapidly in those first few years by the mid-90s,” Culbreath says. “TSWV was a significant part of crop losses, and the virus came close to putting us out of peanut production. I’m proud to be part of an integrated management research extension team that addressed the problem.”

Through the years, the team of researchers working on TSWV has made a lot of strides in managing the virus. An integrated approach has been an excellent example of that, Culbreath says.

“No production practice actually provides adequate control of the disease in the field, but we’ve put together multiple factors that all work together so we can have a huge impact on managing TSWV,” Culbreath says.

Culbreath continues to work on spotted wilt and is proud of the progress the research team has made through the year.

“We’re living with the virus now, but it is still an extremely important factor in our peanut production,” Culbreath says. “Our losses to spotted wilt have been up the last couple of years.”

Culbreath’s research program is geared towards helping breeders develop better and better varieties and better resistance to spotted wilt so that it will hold up to it. Currently there are no varieties with full immunity to the virus.

Through Culbreath’s integrated research program, he helps with mapping and marker development that will hopefully help the next generation of breeders and plant pathologists. His research focus continues to compare advanced breeding lines from multiple breeding programs and the lines resistance to spotted wilt.

Culbreath also compares the available peanut varieties response to Thimet insecticide since spotted wilt is vectored by thrips. Thimet is the only insecticide available that controls thrips and gives some suppression of spotted wilt.

According to Culbreath, the research is a team effort which includes researchers and extension professionals across multiple disciplines.

The virus is complicated but together the team of researchers are making progress.

“When you have a virus that’s complicated like spotted wilt, then it takes a team approach,” Culbreath says. “We are continuing to make progress, but it seems like the virus stays two steps ahead of us sometimes.”

There are some promising lines in the breeding program that has resistance to spotted wilt but for now the variety, Georgia-12Y is the best line with resistance to spotted wilt. In years with heavy spotted wilt pressure, Culbreath says growers need to be mindful of the optimum planning date, higher seeding rates and the insecticide Thimet.

“We are continuing our work on spotted wilt by putting together as many factors as possible that are available now and looking for new and better resistance in the breeding lines that we have and what will be coming down the pipe,” Culbreath says. “So, hopefully we can eventually get to where spotted wilt is not a factor in peanut production, but for the moment, I’m afraid it’s still a mighty strong enemy.”

View the 2023 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

David Bertioli is a professor in the University of Georgia Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics program. He works closely with Soraya Bertioli in what is known as the wild peanut lab. Now to explain what the wild peanut lab is, let me take you back five or ten thousand years to South America when the first inhabitants were growing wild peanuts. That area is now known as Argentina and Bolivia.

Wild peanuts are very small, and they spread on the ground, but at the time that was a nutritious crop for them. The inhabitants cultivated peanuts moving up and down during their migrations on the Eastern side of the Andes and they ended up cultivating two species together, which don’t normally grow together. In this way they encourage the formation of a hybrid and that hybrid between two species gave rise to all of the peanuts in the world. The fact that it’s a hybrid means that peanut has got that vigor. The peanut got that productivity that we love but the fact that it was just one hybrid probably that gave rise to all of the peanuts in the world. That means that it has phenomenally narrow genetics.

That’s the reason for peanuts being very susceptible to pests and diseases and being expensive to grow. It’s one of the most expensive row crops to grow because it needs protection. So, what we’re doing in the wild peanut lab is we are going back to the wild species to bring in especially pest and disease resistances.

What we do is we take two different species which are similar to the original ones but not the same ones. We hybridize them together in a process that mimics the original origin of peanut and then we hybridize those to peanut itself. We hybridize again and we do genetics and then use the information from the peanut genome project and at the end of our process which takes about 10 years we get lineages like this. Some of the peanuts produced in Georgia crossed with wild genetics brings in very strong resistance against things like leaf spot, rust fungus, tomato spotted wilt virus and nematode.

View the 2023 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.