Farmer Calendar Highlights Major Meetings and Economic Outlook
It’s a busy week on the farmer calendar, with several major agricultural meetings taking place across the Southeast, along with new economic forecasts that could impact the agricultural sector in the year ahead.
Kicking off the week’s events, the Georgia Cotton Commission will hold its annual meeting on Wednesday, January 28. The meeting will take place at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Comfort Center in Tifton, Georgia. The annual gathering brings together cotton producers, industry partners, and researchers to review the state of the cotton industry and discuss priorities moving forward.
On Thursday, January 29, attention turns to peanuts with two significant events happening on the same day. The Alabama-Florida Peanut Trade Show will be held at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds in Dothan, Alabama. The show begins early and is expected to feature around 70 exhibitors, making it one of the largest peanut-focused trade shows in the region. The event provides growers with access to the latest products, technology, and information relevant to peanut production.
Also on Thursday, the South Carolina Peanut Day will take place in Santee, South Carolina, at the Santee Convention Center. Peanut Day offers producers educational sessions, research updates, and opportunities to connect with industry experts and fellow growers, making it a key stop on the regional peanut calendar.
In addition to meeting updates, new economic forecasts from the University of Georgia are drawing attention across the agricultural community. According to UGA economists, the 2026 outlook calls for another year of slow economic growth. Georgia’s economy is expected to roughly match the overall pace of U.S. gross domestic product growth, with job growth projected to be similar to national trends.
The forecast also suggests that the Federal Reserve is likely to ease monetary policy in the future. However, economists cautioned that the risk of recession remains high for the coming year. That uncertainty could influence farm input costs, commodity demand, and overall financial conditions for producers.
As farmers move through a week filled with important meetings and industry discussions, the combination of market outlooks and economic forecasts underscores the importance of staying informed and engaged as agriculture navigates another challenging year.
Audio Reporting by Tyron Spearman for Southeast AgNet.