The peanut industry is working toward an important goal that will ultimately serve to make peanut production more sustainable than ever. That is the mapping of the peanut genome. “What we’re looking for is traits that will be resistant to diseases, nematode, leaf spot, or will have traits we want like high oil or improved protein content,” said George Birdsong, … Read More

The farm bill saga we’ve seen this year has left farm policy veterans like Jim Wiesemeyer of Informa Economics just shaking their heads in amazement. “It’s been the most bewildering, frustrating bill I’ve seen in over 36 years of watching,” Jim says. He gave a policy and general ag economics outlook for the peanut industry during lunch at the SPGC, … Read More

Improving energy efficiency on farming operations is one of the keys to a sustainable future and there are more options today than ever before. Take propane, for example. It’s common for propane to be used for peanut drying and on-farm heating use, but new opportunities for farming operations now include fleet vehicle conversions and irrigation. “With diesel running $3.50-3.60 a … Read More

Dr. Marshall Lamb with the USDA-ARS National Peanut Research Lab has been a fixture at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference for every one of the 15 years of its existence and a partner in the annual Farm Press Peanut Profitability Awards for nearly as long. This year he was honored by Farm Press for his commitment with the first ever … Read More

One of the greatest advancements in farming sustainability over the past decade or so has come from the use of precision technology. “One of the biggest things we can offer them is guidance,” said Ag Leader Technology southeast territory representative Kyle Snodgrass. “They are able to actually figure out where the peanuts are going in the ground and where they’re … Read More

In 1947, Forrest E. Mars, Sr. made a commitment to building the business that his father started by creating a “mutuality of benefits” for all stakeholders. Still family- owned after a century, Mars, Inc. continues to build on its five core principals of Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom that include a growing commitment to sustainable sourcing of agricultural commodity … Read More

There are many aspects to sustainability and one of the most important probably gets the least attention – that is the human side of sustainability. Peanut Proud is an organized way of “giving back” for the industry that has been assisting with natural disaster relief efforts since 2009, most recently with the tornadoes in Oklahoma this year. “We delivered 11,520 … Read More

This year’s Valent Valor award for leadership in the peanut industry was presented to a team – Jack and Norma Chastain of Georgia. Once again, John Altom of Valent had the pleasure of presenting this industry honor. John noted that Jack and Norma have “made a life mission of integrity and service” to their community and the industry. They met … Read More

Spending 14 hours a day in a tractor cab growing up in North Carolina gave Jerry Carroll plenty of time to think about his dream of making people laugh. Now, when he’s not back home on the family farm, he harvests a bumper crop of laughs as a corporate comedian. “I’m first and foremost a farmer who happens to be … Read More

Getting off to a great start here at the 15th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference I met up with all four of the state executives for the associations involved in the event as soon as I arrived on the scene at Panama City Beach. Left to right, the fabulous four are Randy Griggs with Alabama Peanut Producers; Ken Barton with … Read More