The May/June 2019 issue of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer is now available online.
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced May 23 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will take several actions to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation and trade disruption. President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy to support American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more markets in the long run to help American farmers compete globally. Specifically, the President has authorized USDA to provide up to $16 billion in programs, which is in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other trade disruptions. These programs will assist agricultural producers while President Trump works to address long-standing market access barriers.
“China hasn’t played by the rules for a long time and President Trump is standing up to them, sending the clear message that the United States will no longer tolerate their unfair trade practices, which include non-tariff trade barriers and the theft of intellectual property. President Trump has great affection for America’s farmers and ranchers, and he knows they are bearing the brunt of these trade disputes. In fact, I’ve never known of a president that has been more concerned or interested in farmer wellbeing and long-term profitability than President Trump,” said Secretary Perdue. “The plan we are announcing today ensures farmers do not bear the brunt of unfair retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and other trading partners. Our team at USDA reflected on what worked well and gathered feedback on last year’s program to make this one even stronger and more effective for farmers. Our farmers work hard, are the most productive in the world, and we aim to match their enthusiasm and patriotism as we support them.”
Washington, D.C. (May 20, 2019) – The U.S. Trade Representative has announced “an agreement with Canada and Mexico to remove the Section 232 tariffs for steel and aluminum imports from those countries and for the removal of all retaliatory tariffs imposed on American goods by those countries.”
The Southern Peanut Farmers Federation released the following statement after the announcement of the removal of the Section 232 tariffs. Armond Morris, Chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission, commented for the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, “Peanut growers appreciate President Trump’s efforts to negotiate the removal of the tariffs on steel and aluminum with Mexico and Canada as well as related retaliatory tariffs by those countries. Both Mexico and Canada are important trading partners for the peanut industry. This is a step in the right direction to improve the U.S. agricultural economy.”
The Southern Peanut Farmers Federation is comprised of the Alabama Peanut Producers Association, the Florida Peanut Producers Association, the Mississippi Peanut Growers Association and the Georgia Peanut Commission. These are the respective “check-off” organizations in each state. The SPFF board consist of 8 members comprised of the chief elected officer and the executive director of each organization. Action requires unanimous agreement.
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean Sam Pardue, left, presented Frank McGill with the Medallion of Honor during a special event on Thursday, May 2, on the UGA Tifton campus.
Frank McGill, 92, affectionally known throughout the Georgia agricultural community as “Mr. Peanut,” received the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Medallion of Honor during a private event on Thursday, May 2, on the UGA Tifton campus.
The Medallion of Honor is presented to an outstanding individual or couple in recognition of dedication to the college’s mission and to express gratitude for the time, advice, support and influence they have provided.
“Once in a generation, someone comes along who forever changes a segment of agriculture. When it comes to peanuts, Frank McGill is that person. Scientists, farmers and even former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will tell you, without hesitation, that Frank McGill was extremely instrumental in developing the peanut industry in Georgia,” said CAES Dean Sam Pardue, who presented McGill with the award. “His wise counsel, steady advice and dedication to teaching the latest principles and production practices helped triple Georgia peanut yields, changing the economic future of southwest Georgia, which now produces nearly half of the nation’s total peanut crop.”
A native of Chula, Georgia, McGill earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy in 1951 and a master’s degree in agronomy in 1962 from CAES.
He began his career with UGA as a county agent in southwest Georgia and later became the state’s UGA Cooperative Extension peanut specialist. McGill, who worked at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia, was a member of the UGA Cooperative Extension peanut team that developed a “package approach” for peanut production in Georgia. From 1954 to 1982, McGill’s expertise helped Georgia’s peanut yields increase from 955 pounds per acre in 1955 to 2,040 pounds in 1967 and 3,220 pounds in 1974.
Over his career, McGill traveled to 21 countries as a peanut consultant. He traveled to Australia and India to review research and extension programs and to Honduras, Suriname and Barbados to “jump start” local peanut production and to help eliminate pellagra, a protein deficiency that was affecting children there.
McGill served as a technical advisor to the Georgia Peanut Commission, U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, National Peanut Council and the National Peanut Growers Group.
His honors include being named president of the American Peanut Research and Education Society and chairman of a special task force requested by the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee to determine the 40-year impact of peanut policy on the family farm. UGA named him a D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor of Agronomy and Progressive Farmer magazine named him Man of the Year.
He was inducted into the Georgia Peanut Hall of Fame in 1982 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Peanut Council in 1999. The Council also officially named McGill “Mr. Peanut” that year. In 1996, he was inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame and received the American/World Agriculture Award from the National County Agents Association in 2000. Last year, he received the Valor Award from the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation.
Of his numerous accolades, a humble McGill said, “I just did what I was hired to do.”
At his retirement in 1982, McGill discouraged gifts and the numerous monetary donations he received were used to create the J. Frank McGill “Up with Peanuts” Scholarship. As a result, a$2,000 scholarship has since been awarded each year to a rising junior or senior UGA crop and soil sciences major.
After retirement, McGill remained an active voice in the peanut industry. He served as president of the American Peanut Research and Education Society, chairman of the U.S. Task Force on Peanut Policy and the U.S. Peanut Improvement Working Group. He also worked as a peanut consultant with M&M Mars for 16 years, followed by four years as a part-time consultant with the National Peanut Laboratory.
McGill was selected as one of 12 UGA scientists whose work has impacted the world in the last 100 years as part of UGA’s centennial celebrations. And, in October 2018, he was honored by the UGA Graduate School as an Alumnus of Distinction.
“Frank is a phenomenal individual. I believe he is part of the reason the industry is as strong as it is, and production is as great as it is,” said Joe West, assistant dean of the UGA Tifton campus. West and UGA-Tifton honored McGill as one of 12 scientists whose work has impacted the world during a special ceremony in Tifton, Georgia in 2015.
“I think he is an excellent example of what a faculty member at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences can aspire to for a career of service,” West said.
By Clint Thompson, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The April 2019 issue of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer is now available online.
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The March 2019 issue of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer is now available online.
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The January/February 2019 issue of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer is now available online.
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The October/November 2018 issue of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer is now available online.
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2018 Georgia Peanut Tour attendees see harvest first-hand at the farm of Lee and Charley Cromely in Brooklet, Ga.
When people think of Georgia peanuts, they often think of the thousands of acres planted on the western half of the coastal plain. But the truth is that east Georgia boasts its share of peanuts as well.
During the 2018 Georgia Peanut Tour, about 200 industry leaders and other peanut stakeholders learned about the eastern half of Georgia’s peanut belt — from the Bulloch County fields that produce more than $20 million worth of peanuts a year to the Port of Savannah, where Georgia’s peanut exports are sent overseas.
The Georgia Peanut Tour is organized by the Georgia Peanut Commission with the help of industry leaders and peanut researchers at the University of Georgia. It’s designed to help peanut stakeholders, who are not familiar with Georgia agriculture, to learn more about the local impact of peanut farming and how commission-funded research impacts individual growers and farms.
This year’s tour attracted attendees from more than 20 states and four countries outside of the U.S., according to Joy Crosby, communications director for the Georgia Peanut Commission.
Over the course of the three-day tour, experts from the University of Georgia Peanut Team and peanut farmers from across the region explained the link between Georgia’s peanut industry and the research pioneered by agricultural scientists at UGA.
“Georgia peanut farmers realize that research is what’s going to move them forward,” said Bob Kemerait, a peanut plant pathologist with UGA Cooperative Extension and a Georgia Peanut Tour committee member, explaining that farmers fund over $1 million in research each year through the peanut commission.
One research success farmers pointed to repeatedly during the tour was UGA peanut experts’ work to control tomato spotted wilt virus in the state’s peanut fields.
“When I first started seeing this (tomato spotted wilt virus) problem, I said, ‘This is going to put us out of the peanut business,” said peanut farmer Charlie Cromley during a harvest demonstration at one of his family’s peanut fields near Springfield, Georgia.
“That’s a testament to the research at UGA, which has supported the peanut industry in this state. We were facing a big problem, and they found some cultural practices and other methods that we could use to control the problem before it became too widespread.”
The tour also gave farmers the chance to demonstrate how they’ve put the latest research into action. At the Boddiford Farm in Sylvania, Georgia, father and son team Joe and Knapp Boddiford showcased how new precision agriculture technologies have reduced the amount of water they use to irrigate their crop and how it has resulted in more productive peanut plants.
Today, peanut researchers are working to identify more insect- and disease-resistant peanut varieties, better weed control measures and more productive cultural practices to help solve emerging problems in Georgia’s peanut fields.
For more information about the impact of the UGA Peanut Team, visit peanuts.caes.uga.edu.
View 2018 Georgia Peanut Tour photos from the University of Georgia and the Georgia Peanut Commission.
By Merritt Melancon, news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The Georgia Cotton Commission, Georgia Peanut Commission and the University of Georgia Extension Cotton and Peanut Teams, will co-sponsor a joint research field day on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, in Tifton, Georgia.
The field day will start at 8:00 a.m. at the University of Georgia Conference Center (15 RDC Rd., Tifton, Georgia) before relocating to the RDC Pivot and Ponder Farm to view research trials. Those planning to attend need to RSVP by Friday, Aug. 31, to Jeannie Evans at jevans12@uga.edu or 229-386-3006.
The purpose of the tour is to showcase current research, which is funded by the respective commissions, in plot-side presentations by the researchers themselves. The sponsors’ goal is to provide an educational environment for cotton and peanut farmers and give them the opportunity to pose questions directly to the researchers and to express opinions and concerns pertinent to the production of their crops.
Chairmen of the peanut and cotton commissions, Armond Morris and Bart Davis, respectively, agree this event gives farmers the distinct opportunity to interact with the leadership of each commission, other farmers and industry representatives. It is an excellent place for farmers to observe, first-hand, the research programs funded by their checkoff investments.
To view an agenda, visit www.georgiacottoncommission.org or www.gapeanuts.com.
