First up on the agenda at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference Monday morning was Congressman Allen Boyd (D-FL), who gave growers and industry members an update on what’s happening in Washington DC these days could will affect them. Among the topics he discussed were food safety, agriculture funding, health care reform and energy. “We’ve got a good solid farm bill … Read More
Redfish and Peanuts
A new addition this year to the Southern Peanut Growers Conference first day fun was a Redfish Sport Fishing Seminar, presented by Redfish Riviera Outfitters. Steve Bailey with Redfish Riviera and Captain Daniel Snapp with Grassy Flats Charters, in colorful shirts promoting peanuts, presented tips and tricks of the fishing trade to peanut growers and their families. Listen to an … Read More
Peanut Butter Makes Cherries Divine
A simply divine treat is in the bag of goodies given to each person at registration for the Southern Peanut Growers Conference – chocolate covered peanut butter cherries. And they are just incredibly delicious. Leslie Wagner with the Peanut Advisory Board says the new gourmet product comes from a company called Cherries Divine Chocolatiers. “We actually helped them develop the … Read More
Hats Off to Peanut Growers
The theme of the 11th annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference is really a tribute to the U.S. peanut industry for overcoming adversity in 2009. Everyone knows that this year has been a tough one for the industry, starting out with the salmonella issue in January. But, Georgia Peanut Commission executive director Don Koehler says the industry has come back stronger … 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