The twenty-eighth annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be held September 16-18, 2014, and located out of East Georgia at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Pooler, Georgia. The tour brings the latest information on peanuts while giving a first-hand view of industry infrastructure from production and handling to processing and utilization. Tour stops will be made in several peanut producing counties including Bulloch, Burke, Screven and Toombs County.
Attendees can expect to see first-hand nearly every aspect of peanut production in the state. This year’s tour hosts many exciting stops including on-farm harvest demonstrations and clinics, peanut processing facilities, and several special highlights which include research at the University of Georgia Research & Education Center in Midville, Port Authority of Georgia in Savannah, Birdsong Ogeechee Peanut Buying Point and Vidalia Valley.
One special interest of the tour has always been the Early Bird “Hot Topics” Seminar set for Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 3 p.m. This year’s Hot Topics Seminar, held at the Holiday Inn and Suites, will focus on the Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab (PMIL). The seminar topics include an update on the 2014 Georgia peanut crop, peanut program and market update, an overview of the USAID Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab, genomic-based breeding, technologies to improve peanut production and processing and PMIL’s experience in Haiti.
The Georgia Peanut Commission, University of Georgia-Tifton Campus and Griffin Campus, Southwest Research & Education Center, Attapulgus Research & Education Center, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service National Peanut Research Lab coordinate the tour.
Hotel accommodations can be made at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Pooler, Georgia, by calling 912-330-5100. Rooms are available at the rate of $89 for a single/double room and $109 for a suite. Visit www.georgiapeanuttour.com to register and view tour schedule. For more information, contact Hannah Jones at hannah@gapeanuts.com or call at 229-386-3470.