By Clint Thompson
The Georgia Peanut Commission (GPC) reminds those interested in attending this year’s Georgia Peanut Tour that registration is currently being held for the Sept. 13-15 event. It will be held in Tifton, Georgia, and surrounding areas.
The tour provides attendees every year with the latest information on one of Georgia’s top row crops. They will also view the industry’s infrastructure, from production to processing, says Tim Brenneman, professor of peanut disease management at the University of Georgia (UGA) Tifton Campus.
“A lot of people look forward to it. A lot of companies that use a lot of peanuts, the Jifs, M&M’s/Mars and a lot of other folks, they use a large quantity of peanuts and have a real interest in their people being familiar with how peanuts are sourced and how they’re grown,” Brenneman said. “That’s one of the reasons we do this is for those kind of companies to be able to send their people down here and learn all about peanuts and learn how we do it in Georgia which we think is one of the best ways to do it.”
What’s Included?
This year’s stops include Tifton Peanut, UGA Tifton and Birdsong Peanuts in Sylvester. Attendees will also see on-farm harvest demonstrations and clinics.
“I think it should be a great tour,” Brenneman said.
The Georgia Peanut Commission, UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service National Peanut Laboratory coordinate the tour.
The tour has not been held since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation the past two years.
“This is the third one in a row that I’ve helped plan. I hope that this one actually gets carried out. If it doesn’t, they may have to plan it without me next year,” Brenneman joked. “It’s very much the same plan we had last year with minor modifications. We pretty much had it all in the books last year so why do anything different?”
Registration is $125 prior to Aug. 5. Visit www.georgiapeanuttour.com for more information.