After seeing how peanuts are harvested from the field, the Georgia Peanut Tour attendees stopped at Tifton Peanut Company to see what happens once the peanuts leave the farm. Tifton Peanut Company has six locations in Tifton and offers multiple services for the peanut farmer. They are a shelling plant, seed treatment facility, buying point and warehousing facility.

Tour attendees arrive at Tifton Peanut Company.

Peanut arrive to Tifton Peanut Company on wagons or semi-trailers.

Peanuts arrive from the farm to Tifton Peanut Company via wagons or semi-trailers. If needed, the peanuts will go through a cleaner where dirt, rocks, sticks, etc. are removed. The moisture of the peanuts is then read and if needed, the peanuts may go into a dryer if moisture is above 10.5 percent. This threshold is determined by USDA; however, Tifton Peanut Company prefers to dry their peanuts to nine percent to prevent any storage issues throughout the year. A flexible duct extending from a fan is attached to the front or back of a semi-trailer or wagon, where air that is no more than 15 degrees Fahrenheit above ambient temperature and no higher than 95 degrees Fahrenheit is pushed through the peanuts to dry them.

Peanuts are dried if needed.

The trailers the peanuts arrive on are sent to a mechanical sampler, where wagons are probed eight times and a semi-trailer is probed 15 times. In semi trailers, this equates to roughly a 150-200 lb. peanut sample. From there, a 3,600 gram sample goes into a riffle divider that divides the sample in half. One half is an official grade sample that goes into the grading room and the other as a “just in case sample” to double-check accuracies of the grading or to use in case something happens with the initial grade sample.

Peanuts are sampled for grading under this shed.

Tifton Peanut Company offers green grading, also known as high moisture grading. This allows peanuts to be graded up to 18 percent moisture, which results in a deduction in grade and value and requires the load to go back on a dryer; however, the peanuts are not required to be re-graded. Check out the video below to see how the grading process works.

For seed treatment, peanut seed is shelled and stored in 2,200 lb. totes. A 5 lb. sample is retained out of that and sent off for germination where it has to germ to at least 75 before it can be put on the market. Tifton Peanut Company does not save anything unless it’s 85 or above. Once it has a germination, they will work through Georgia Crop Improvement to get tags for that lot. Each lot is 45,000 lbs. From there, the peanut seed goes through a shaker to eliminate any splits. It then receives a fungicide treatment. There are several different types of treatment available. Tifton Peanut Company uses a polymer treatment they feel better protects the peanut and allows them to color it for identification. After being treated, the peanuts go back in the 2,000 lb. tote bags or 50 lb. bags and return to storage until farmers are ready to purchase for planting season. Planting season for peanuts begins in the April/May timeframe each year. Good quality seed is critical for peanut farmers. And a 4 oz. seed treatment can be the determining factor on whether a crop is successful.

Peanut seed is treated at Tifton Peanut Company.

View the 2022 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album

Juliet Chu works with Dr.Peggy Ozias-Akins and Dr. Corley Holbrook on peanut genetic breeding. The research they are currently conducting is on the host resistance for white mold. White mold is a fungal pathogen that has a large economic impact on peanut production. White mold attacks the stem and laterals of the peanut plant in the area where this fungal pathogen exists. So, when the fungus attacks the plant, it causes the stem to turn brown and eventually leads to plant death. If the plant the fungal pathogen attacks in a later stage of the plant’s life, then it can also attack the pods.

So, if this fungal pathogen exists and impacts the field, it could either kill the plant or make the seeds in the pods disappear because of the fungus. It will use up all the seed and will leave growers with no yield. To solve this problem, growers can use chemical treatment, but to treat the field with chemicals, you need to do fumigation. It is very costly to do. Another way to convey this particular pathogen is to develop resistant cultivar.

So how they are doing that is by first planting Georgia-12Y, which is a resistant cultivar. Then they interspersed their breeding lines into the Georgia-12Y, and then the canopy provides moisture and humidity for the fungal development. The lines then will be inoculated with the white mold culture by Dr. Tim Brenneman and then you will see that about 40 to 50 days or 30 to 50 days after inoculation we which line is resistant and which line is not. The reason lines could be either released or used for breeding program.

View the 2022 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

Scott Tubbs is the cropping systems agronomist at the University of Georgia, located in Tifton, Georgia. He spoke to the tourists about a variety trial he is conducting at the Ponder farm, located in Tifton. The Ponder Farm trial has 10 different cultivars, nine of which are releases that have come out since Georgia-06G and Georgia-06G was set as the commercial standard for this trial. In combination with the variety trial, they also have inoculated and non-inoculated peanuts out there with Bradyrhizobia inoculant to try and help with nitrogen fixation. Each one of the varieties is represented with four replications, either inoculated or non-inoculated. Five of the varieties have come out of the University of Georgia breeding program and three of the varieties came out of the University of Florida breeding program. They also had one variety out of the USDA breeding program in Tifton, Georgia and one variety out of the USDA breeding program that is a cooperation between Auburn University and the National Peanut Research Lab in Dawson, Georgia.

In these varieties, what they often see is based on the primary breeding location. Since these breeding programs are scattered throughout the Southeastern United States and even in different states in the peanut producing areas, often they see different pest pressures. Sometimes the breeding that is done for these peanuts is surrounded by keeping different pest pressures at bay. So, tomato spotted wilt virus is a primary threat that they have been focused on in variety breeding over the last 30 years or so and many of these varieties have better tomato spotted wilt virus resistance than Georgia-06G, our current industry standard cultivar.

However, some of the varieties that have come out of the University of Florida breeding program often don’t hold up as well in this environment here in Tifton, Georgia, as they do down in the southwest corner of the state, closer to where the peanuts are bred. So, they were able to show you some varietal differences out in the field for tomato spotted wilt virus resistance and that different varieties have a different vegetative growth habit. Some have a more prominent main stem while some have more of a prostate growth habit and grow closer to the ground with a more prostrate vine habit. Some of these varieties are his agronomic research program for the first time this year. The yield on some of these varieties have performed just as well and held up just as well as Georgia-06G. He feels that they are at a point where Georgia-06G, even though it has dominated acreage for the last 12 to 15 years in the state of Georgia and in the entire southeast runner-producing area, some of these other varieties have the potential to take over some acreage from Georgia-06g because of their yield potential being just as good and having even better pest resistance to certain diseases such as the case of TifNV- High O/L, it is a root knot nematode resistant variety. They have some up and coming varieties that have very strong yield potential and may be able to take over some of the acreage.

From a buying point standpoint however, many of the buying points don’t like to handle too many varieties. It makes for a difficulty in separating, segregating and storing those peanuts when there’s too many varieties that are commercially available. So, they really try to pinpoint down to three to five cultivars that have the strongest yield potential, the strongest disease packages, and meet the needs of what growers might be facing in the majority of the fields.

View the 2022 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

Nino Brown works with the University of Georgia as an assistant research scientist with the department of crop and soil science as a peanut breeder. He works closely with Dr. Bill Branch who has been the peanut breeder for over 40 years now. Some of the things that they focus on is increasing yield, increasing dollar value, improving disease resistance, shelling quality, flavor, drought resistance, and a lot of various agronomic traits that are important to growers.

When Brown first started, Dr. Branch and Brown started a trial to look at the genetic gain which is the progress that’s been made over the course of the UGA peanut breeding program. To do that they looked at all the Georgia runner varieties that have been released from the program, starting with Southeastern Runner 5615, which was released in 1947. Then, continuing to look at Dr. Branches runner varieties that he has released since coming here, starting with Georgia Runner on up to Georgia-18RU. This also included the Georgia-06G and Georgia-12Y. One of the things that they learned from the three-year study was that peanut yields have increased over 3,500 pounds per acre since the inception of the peanut breeding program at UGA.

Since Dr. Branch has been breeding peanuts in Georgia, yields have increased almost 2,000 pounds per acre. When they looked at dollar value, dollar values have increased by a little less than 650 dollars per acre and Dr.Branch has been responsible for over 350 dollars per acre increase in dollar value. It was really underscoring the importance and the value of having a public peanut breeding program at the University of Georgia. It is important that they try to maintain that consistent rate of genetic gain that that Dr.Branch has been able to achieve.

To do that, Brown has been looking at ways that we can increase the throughput within the breeding program. They have a lot of really interesting tools at their disposal as plant breeders. Today, they have a lot of high throughput phenotyping devices so there are things, such as drones, that can fly through the field and take really detailed measurements, high speed seed sorting machines, and they are using all these technologies to try to apply them within the peanut breeding program so that they can maintain that high rate of genetic gain.

They have had several years of using drones in their replicated yield trials and they are starting to use them for selection purposes in their nurseries. They are also developing a ground-based phenotyping robot called Watson with collaborators in Athens, Dr. Changying “Charlie” Li and Dr. Rui Xu. They are working with JLA to apply high throughput seed sorting system to the breeding program to sort high oleic exceeds from normal oleic seeds so they can use them in breeding nurseries to sort the high oleic plants more effectively from the normal plants in the nurseries.

Several years ago, the peanut industry had the foresight to sequence the cultivated peanut genome which has made it a lot easier to do things like genetic diversity studies so they can better understand the genetic relatedness of our peanut cultivars. They also had a study a few years ago which looked at all of the peanut varieties that have been released by the university over the course of its 90-year history to better understand how they can make crosses among related or unrelated lines so that they can maintain that constant rate of genetic gain to help improve grower’s bottom line.

They are trying to incorporate high throughput methods and new breeding technologies and new genetic technologies to maintain a high rate of genetic gain for growers in Georgia and beyond.

View the 2022 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

On Georgia Peanut Tour 2022, attendees visited the Georgia Department of Ag Seed Lab. Here, techs tests all types of peanuts from December to the first of May. Over 12,500 peanut samples are tested in that time period annually. Their team work vigorously each year to finish that amount of peanut samples in that short of an amount of time.

At the Ag Seed Lab, located in Tifton, Georgia, three different types of peanut seed samples are obtained, official, service, and certified. The official samples are pulled by the state inspectors whom work for the Department of Agriculture. The service samples are given by farmers or gardener needing testing on their seed (a service provided by the Ag Seed Lab at no charge to the farmer and gardeners). The certified samples are in conjunction with Georgia Crop Improvement Association, who manage the certification program for all crop kinds. Each sample type is performed in order to insure a top quality product in the market place for the consumers in the agriculture industry for the state of Georgia.

Tim Brenneman, plant pathologist at University of Georgia, is chairman for the 34^th annual Georgia Peanut Tour. The tour plans to show you peanuts from A to Z. From how they’re grown, how they’re processed, the supporting equipment, what goes into producing the seed and how they are graded. Attendees will learn it all! Attendees will probably learn more about peanuts in this two-day tour than any two days you could spend elsewhere. Tour attendees will get to experience some actual production fields. You’ll see peanuts being dug and harvested. That is one of the main highlights of the tour since the 2022 season has a good, high-quality crop lined up. Visitors will also get to eat some really good food and get to experience a fair amount of South Georgia around the Tifton area. It will be a really good time to be in South Georgia. The peanut tour committee looks forward to it. If there’s anything the committee can do, feel free to flag down one of the committee members. They will all be on the tour at different times and will have committee shirts on. They will be more than happy to get you any information or try to answer any questions you might have. We welcome you to South Georgia and hope you have a great time while you’re here.

View the 2022 Georgia Peanut Photo Album.

The thirty-fourth annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be held September 13-15, 2022, in Tifton, 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 surrounding Tifton.

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 Tifton Campus.

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

For sponsorship information, contact Hannah Jones at hannah@gapeanuts.com or call at 229-386-3470.

2022 Georgia Peanut Tour Schedule
2022 Tour Maps & Driving Directions – Wednesday & Thursday
Download Sponsorship Info
Register Online
Download Registration Form

We hope you are all well in spite of the challenges we all are facing. It has been a difficult year in many regards. This includes trying to plan a tour for a large group of people to travel together, eat together, visit numerous facilities, etc., all while maintaining strict social distancing and safety precautions. We love hosting the Georgia Peanut Tour, and were determined to try and make it happen. However, as planning progressed, it became apparent that the prudent option would be to cancel the 2020 Georgia Peanut Tour. This was not an easy decision, but I am confident it was the right decision. At this point we will table our plans to go to Southwest Georgia, and hopefully will be there in September of 2021. In the meantime, we will work hard to still produce a great crop of high-quality Georgia peanuts, and we look forward to you joining us next year!

Be safe, and eat more peanuts!

Sincerely,

Tim Brenneman
Georgia Peanut Tour Committee Chairman

Alex Hardy discusses the peanut boiling operation at Hardy Farms Peanuts.

The final stop on the 2019 Georgia Peanut Tour brought attendees to the peanut boiling operation of Hardy Farms Peanuts in Hawkinsville, Ga. Boiled peanuts are affectionately known by many as “The Country Caviar.”

The Hardy family has been growing peanuts in the heartland of Georgia for over 70 years. Our growers are part of a multi-generational legacy with experience being handed down from one generation to the next.

Peanut farming began in the mid 1900s for the Hardy family when patriarch, Norman Hardy began farming after returning from the war. He ran a multi-crop farm and livestock operation in the heart of Dodge County. When Mr. Norman unexpectedly passed in 1977 at the age of 57, his sons, Alex, Kenneth and Randy, along with their cousin Terry partnered up to transform the family operation. At the time, the Hardy clan faced agricultural industry hardships during a decade of droughts and low commodity prices.

With innovative thinking and minds focused on mitigating crop losses, the Hardy relatives formed a production business for green peanut sales in 1991, well-known today as Hardy Farms Peanuts. The company focused on selling and marketing green peanuts exclusively until the addition of cousins Brad and Ken Hardy, sons of brothers Alex and Kenneth Hardy to the family business in the late 1990s. Brad and Ken focused their efforts on the production and growth of the boiled peanut market for the family business. The Hardy Farms Peanuts brand recognition grew significantly throughout Middle Georgia with the growth of its road-side retail stands in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, six members of the Hardy clan manage Hardy Farms Peanuts. That includes Alex Hardy, his son Brad, brother Kenneth Hardy, his son Ken, brother Randy Hardy and cousin Terry Shadix.

Hardy Farms is a leading producer of fresh green and boiled peanuts. They produce over 5 million pounds of green and boiled peanuts annually, that are sold all over the United States. Now with over 25 roadside retail locations throughout Middle Georgia and supermarket presence throughout the southeastern U.S., Hardy Farms peanuts are readily available to anyone craving the true country caviar.

Also, the market for oil and dry roasted peanuts is global. In 2014, cousins Brad Hardy and Ken Hardy, elevated the family business to include the production of oil and dry roasted peanuts with the opening of their roasting plant. Hardy Farms Roasting can produce up to 3,000 pounds of oil and dry roasted peanuts an hour. The company does private label packaging and bulk packaging for commercial companies who use it in their products. It also launched its own retail brand – Party Peanuts by Hardy’s Peanuts Inc. – in four flavors: Simply Salted, Sweet Southern Sriracha, Delicious Dill Pickle and Crushed Black Pepper.

View the 2019 Georgia Peanut Tour Photo Album.