Georgia Peanut Farm Show set for Thursday in Tifton

TIFTON — More than 1,400 peanuts growers and representatives of the agribusiness industry are expected to attend the 41st annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show on Thursday at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center.

“We’re excited about it,” Jessie Bland, project coordinator for the Georgia Peanut Commission, which sponsors the event, said Friday. “There’s going to be a lot of information that peanut farmers can get.”

Georgia is the nation’s leading peanut-producing state, harvesting slightly less than 1.74 million tons in 2015 on 785,000 acres. That year, Georgia, which usually produces more than half of the nation’s peanuts, accounted for nearly 56 percent of the peanut production in the United States. Peanuts are a $1.3 billion industry in the state, which has about 3,400 peanut farmers.

The state’s 75-county Peanut Belt covers most of the counties below Georgia’s so-called “Gnat Line” with the exception of seven coastal counties. The top six producing counties in 2015 were, in order, Mitchell, Worth, Early Colquitt, Miller and Decatur counties, with Decatur neighbor Seminole County coming in at No. 10, according to Peanut Commission statistics.

The event starts at 8:30 a.m. and includes a pair of informational seminars for growers in the morning before the luncheon at which the state’s Young Peanut Farmer of the Year and the outstanding farmers from each of the Peanut Commission’s five member districts will be announced. The commission comprises five board members, each a peanut grower elected by fellow growers and each representing a single-member district.

The two main speakers that participants will hear from at the 12:15 p.m. luncheon are a representative of the National Peanut Board, which will get participants up to speed on the national picture, and Bob Redding of the Redding Firm, a lobbyist for peanut organizations, who will give the group an update on the political landscape in Washington, D.C.

“We’ll have two seminars for farmers that will go on in the morning,” Bland said.

At 9 a.m., the University of Georgia will present an educational peanut production seminar that will conclude at 10:30 a.m. Bland said it will have a special focus on irrigation management. Farmers will also have the opportunity to earn credit towards their private or commercial pesticide applicators certification.

That will be followed at 10:35 a.m. by with hourlong Industry Seed Seminar sponsored by the American Peanut Shellers Association, Southern Peanut Farmers Federation and the Georgia Peanut Commission. Growers will be able to learn about seed quality and quantity for 2017, peanut varieties available for 2017 and on the horizon, production advice and the peanut genomic initiative, commission officials said.

Meanwhile, participants will be able to browse among and talk with representatives of what commission officials expect to be a record number of vendors at the show since it moved from Albany to Tifton.

“We have 113 vendors confirmed,” Bland said. “That’s the most we’ve ever had at this facility.”

The vendors include Kelley Manufacturing Co. KMC is providing the grand door prize package — one season’s use of a new six-row peanut combine that the winning farmer will have the option of buying at $15,000 off list price. KMC is providing a second drawing for one season’s use of a new digger shaker inverter, with the winner having the option of purchasing the digger at 10 percent off the list price.

Farmers can register to win the grower prize, donated by Amadas Industries — the choice of one season’s use of a new four- or six-row peanut digger/inverter or a certificate for $10,000 toward the purchase of a self-propelled combine or $5,000 toward a new four- or six-row pull-type combine.

The winner of the grand door prize or the grower prize must be a certified peanut farmer with a Farm Service Agency farm number.

The commission, in cooperation with One Blood, will hold a blood drive from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center during the show.

Bland said admission to the show, which will conclude at 2:30 p.m., is free to peanuts growers and representatives of businesses, organizations and industries that are involved with the peanut industry.

Contact the commission at (229) 386-3470 or visit www.gapeanuts.com.