The Blues Brothers dinner and entertainment evening sponsored by Syngenta was a total success. Fun for everyone young and old. Check out the Peanut Family Album for all the photos from the conference, including about 100 just from the blues bash alone. Most people will agree that the 10th anniversary of the Southern Peanut Growers Conference was the best ever. … Read More
Feeding the Hungry with Peanuts
The potential for the peanut-based product known as Plumpy’nut to fight global famine is tremendous, according to Jeff Johnson of Birdsong Peanut Company. “It’s revolutionized saving the lives of severely malnourished children in Africa, saving tens of thousands of lives,” Jeff says. “The demand in Africa alone could be 1.2 billion pounds.” “If the USAID devoted just ten percent of … Read More
Economy Optimism
What goes up, must come down, and the opposite is also true when it comes to the economy. Robert Nobles with Synovus Banks had pretty positive message for peanut producers regarding the economy. “While the economy is struggling at this point, it will get better, its just going to take some time,” he says. “When using history as a guide, … Read More
Peanut Supply and Demand
Richard Barnhill with peanut brokers Mazur and Hockman gave growers an update on the supply/demand situation for peanuts. His main message was that even though the crop is going to be big this year, there’s plenty of demand for peanuts. “We need to maintain acres about the same as we have now and the market is going to make sure … Read More
Mississippi Proud to be New Addition
The Mississippi Peanut Growers are kind of the “little brother” in the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, still a baby organization themselves having only just started two years ago. Clayton Lawrence of southeast Mississippi is the second president of the association and he says they are proud to be a growing part of the industry. “We’re up to around 28,000 acres … Read More
Syngenta Part of the Peanut Growers Family
One of the sponsors that has been supporting the Southern Peanut Growers Conference for all ten years of its existence is Syngenta and district sales manager Lyle Stewart says its just part of their support for the industry. “We just appreciate having an opportunity to offer good quality products to peanut growers,” Lyle said. “A lot of the growers that … Read More
Peanuts and the World Food Crisis
Peanut growers heard from Scott Rawlins of Makhteshim Agan of North America, better known as MANA, about the global food crisis. Rawlins talked about the current situation and what the so-called “experts” are saying – and why agricultural producers seem to be getting left out of the equation. The “no-brainer” is that we need to increase food production worldwide. “Some … Read More
USDA Undersecretary is a Peanut Lover
USDA Undersecretary Dr. Gale Buchanan may work in Washington, DC but his heart is in the southeast. “I spent 21 years at Auburn University conducting research in peanuts and other crops,” said Buchanan. “Then went to the University of Georgia as the director of the Coastal Plain Experiment Station and dean at the college of agriculture.” He also attended the … Read More
Future Peanut Leadership
The Peanut Leadership Program is a cooperative effort between Syngenta Crop Protection, grower organizations and agricultural extension. Participants are nominated by agricultural leaders in their counties and then selected by a committee of state leaders. One of the program participants this year is Jeramie Grissom from Seminole, Texas who was attending his first Southern Peanut Growers Conference this week. Jeramie … Read More
Farm Press Peanut Profitability Winners
Three producers from the major peanut growing regions of the country were honored Tuesday morning as the 2008 Peanut Profitability Award Winners, presented by Farm Press/Penton Media and the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation. Left to right, the winners are William McElveen of Bishopville, SC; Otis Johnson of Seminole, TX; and Mike Nugent of Willacoochie, GA. Nugent farms 330 acres in … Read More