Vantage Southeast (formally Ag Technologies) got its start helping provide precision agriculture solutions for peanut growers and they remain a priority for the company.
“We’ve always tried to stay true to the ones the brought us to the dance,” said company representative Travis Kelly who enjoys coming back every year to see farmer customers and being part of the Southern Peanut Growers family.
“When we first started sponsoring this, we didn’t have kids but now we do…so we can come down and bring our families,” he said. “Everybody’s just so relaxed and in shorts and flip flops!”
Vantage Southeast also continues to sponsor this conference blog, which has become an archive now of every SPGC since 2008. Thanks to them and to all the sponsors for making this great conference possible!
Interview with Travis Kelly, Vantage Southeast
Check out both photo albums:
For Curry Parker of Headland, Alabama, hard work and sharp eyes are his most important assets when it comes to being an efficient farmer and winner of this year’s Farm Press Peanut Efficiency Award for the lower Southeast region.
It’s always wonderful to meet a new addition to the Southern Peanut Growers family and this year we had the pleasure of meeting Alexis Benge-Bromley with 
Don Koehler with the Georgia Peanut Commission says he got to know Sonny Perdue when he was a farmer. “He actually grew peanuts on his farm,” Don says. “He’s a man with a heart for agriculture.”
Helping farmers make informed decisions about their crops is the goal of 
Every farm bill gets a little more difficult to pass with an increasingly urban Congress, which is why the peanut industry needs an advocate like Bob Redding in Washington, D.C.
The Nuts vs the Sprouts in a Battle of the Generations Nut Show made for a fun night of entertainment at the welcoming dinner sponsored by Bayer. 
John Hand with Bayer was delayed arriving and missed opening night but did make it in the next day. Bayer continues to be a strong supporter of the peanut industry and this year introduced Propulse for peanut growers. “Propulse is a product we can use about 45-60 days after planting to give us a fungicide application as well as another nematicide boost,” John says.
The Alabama peanut crop is looking good, according to 
Malcolm Broome with the 
“It’s going to be a tough fight, I don’t want anybody to fool themselves,” said Rep. Rogers about getting the next farm bill passed in Congress. He says he would like to see the legislation – which is about 80 percent nutrition programs – split just for a vote to see who votes for or against. “Neither one of them will pass on their own, but it’ll show us who our friends are.”
Rep. Scott says his number one concern is to make sure “we don’t get splits between the commodity groups and within the commodity groups” with respect to farm programs. “I think one of the big debates in the farm bill will be planted acres versus base acres, I can tell you it’s coming,” he said. “The discussion of permanent law versus temporary law is another issue that we’re going to have some honest discussion about.”