SPFF News & Resources

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 gallon, propane now at a $1.50 a gallon … it’s a viable product now for a farmer,” said Bill Moore with Conger LP Gas. Plus, it’s an American made product. “Ninety-five percent of our propane is produced right here in the United States.”

Bill explains some of the options in this interview: Interview with Bill Moore (MP3)

Solar energy is getting to be more popular for farming operations because costs have come down, according to Peter Marte with Hannah Solar. “It’s no longer expensive, the price has dropped 80% over the last three years,” he said. For that reason, Marte encourages farmers to take another look at the possibilities for their operations. “If you haven’t gotten a quote for solar this week – not last month, not a year ago, this week – you don’t have a quote for solar.”

Peter also talked about the utility incentives that can help producers in Georgia: Interview with Peter Marte (MP3)

There are also incentives available on the federal level through a couple of USDA Rural Development programs, according to Mary Gavin with the Florida agency office. “We have what we call our Energy Efficiency program where we do replacing of existing equipment or construction of solar panels to facilities so they make their business more energy efficient,” she said. The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) provides assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to make improvements such as installing irrigation pumps or replacing ventilation systems, and conduct energy audits and feasibility studies.

Listen to my interview with Mary here: Interview with Mary Gavin (MP3)

2013 SPGC Photo Album

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 partner award.

“I think it’s a great conference because the organizers don’t just make this a growers’ conference,” he said. “They involve the shellers, the manufacturers and the allied industries. That entire picture benefits growers a lot.”

Dr. Lamb also gave a presentation during the first session of the conference on markets. “The markets are experiencing a lot of up and down swings but the program is working because those are actually market corrections when we’re oversupplied or undersupplied,” he said. “We’re coming off the heels of the biggest crop we’ve ever produced, the largest amount of carry forward, but we reduced acreage in the U.S. drastically. We don’t know where yields are going to be yet but there still some opportunities that may develop.”

Listen to my interview with Marshall here: Interview with Dr. Marshall Lamb (MP3)

2013 SPGC Photo Album

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 going to be when it’s time to harvest.”

Kyle says that improved cell phone coverage has helped improve signal capability for guidance systems and there are lots of new precision products, such as Advanced Seed Monitoring and variable rate applicators, that more peanut growers are starting to use. “They look at their bottom line after the first year and they’re absolutely shocked and amazed and they say why did a I wait so long?”

This is the third year that Ag Leader has been a sponsor of SPGC.

Listen to my interview with Kyle here: Ag Leader Rep Kyle Snodgrass (MP3)

2013 SPGC Photo Album

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 ingredients for their products.

“We are making sure that we are sourcing responsibly the peanuts, cocoa and palm oil,” said Ann Marie DeLorenzo of MARS at the SPGC. “We’re doing everything we can in our factories to use less energy and less water… and from a standpoint of just overall Earth sustainability, we’re making sure we do everything we can to protect it.”

MARS is one of the top five buyer of peanuts globally with some of the top candy brands, including M&MS, Snickers and Reeses and Ann Marie said she was pleased to be able to represent the company at the SPGC. “We want to make sure that the farmers understand our commitment to the farmer, that they understand our needs as a company, and that we understand what their needs are,” she said.

Listen to my interview with Ann Marie here: Interview with Ann Marie DeLorenzo (MP3)

2013 SPGC Photo Album

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 18 ounce jars (of peanut butter) on May 27, seven days after the tornado hit,” said Peanut Proud chairman Gregg Grimsley of Birdsong Peanuts. About 50,000 more were delivered within the next week.

But Peanut Proud is not just sitting around waiting for disasters to happen to provide humanitarian peanut relief. “We’re focusing on international hunger relief,” Greg says, supporting production of ready-to-use peanut-based therapeutic food, such as MANA.

Greg says Peanut Proud needs to keep getting support from the industry to continue its humanitarian efforts. “If you give money, your money is going to be well used,” he said. Find out how to donate at peanutproud.com.

Listen to Greg’s comments here: Peanut Proud presentation (MP3)

2013 SPGC Photo Album

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 at the University of Georgia nearly 50 years ago and have been together ever since, working side by side in Doster Warehouse – the peanut buying, warehousing and shelling business Jack bought from Norma’s father in 1970.

Listen to my interview with Jack and Norma here: Jack & Norma Chastain (MP3)

After receiving the award, Jack was the first speaking for the general session, talking about how the industry has changed with the times, becoming more efficient and sustainable.

Listen to Jack’s comments here: Jack Chastain presentation (MP3)

2013 SPGC Photo Album

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 one of the top corporate comedians, humorists, done radio, done TV,” Jerry says. “I’m sitting here every day going ‘Holy Cow!’ how did I go from raising hogs, barefoot country boy, to traveling the world?”

Jerry’s appearance at SPGC was sponsored by Bayer Crop Science and at the end of his performance he did get a hat from the company, presented by Bayer’s Dick Dowdy. Jerry did a lot of joking about how he wears a hat to hide his balding head, so he was pleased to get a Provost cap for that purpose! Provost® is Bayer’s peanut fungicide, providing growers protection against all major foliar and soilborne diseases.

Jerry has performed for many agricultural companies and organizations over the years and you can find out more about him and how to book him at TheJerryCarroll.com and/or AgriculturalSpeaker.com.

Listen to my interview with Jerry here: Comedian Jerry Carroll (MP3)

2013 SPGC Photo Album

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 Florida Peanut Producers; Don Koehler with Georgia Peanut Commission; and Malcolm Broome of the Mississippi Peanut Growers Association.

As usual, I asked each of them to talk about the condition of the crop in their states and what the biggest concerns of the growers are right now. Randy says the Alabama crop is “wet, wet, wet” right now. In Florida, Ken says the state is pretty much a “mixed bag” with “an excellent crop in half the state and a questionable crop in the other half.” Don reports that the Georgia crop is “like a Clint Eastwood movie – the good, the bad and the ugly.” Finally, Mississippi is a little wet in the traditional southern peanut growing area of the state “but the northwest corner of the state, which is a new area, is extremely dry,” according to Malcolm.

Meanwhile, all farmers are waiting to see when and if they will finally get a farm bill this year, which we will be hearing more about on Saturday here at the conference. The theme for the 15th annual event is Making Sustainability Work, an issue which is important to all the growers as well.

Randy and Don have been a part of the SPGC since the beginning in 1999. “We started out with about 3 or 4 sponsors and the first year we had about 250 people,” said Randy. “We’ve seen it just constantly grow ever since.”

Listen to my interview with the fab four: Southern Peanut Grower State Execs (MP3)

2013 SPGC Photo Album