Browse Peanuts Stories - Page 2

The peanut burrower bug is a tricky pest for Georgia’s peanut producers. Not only is an infestation invisible in a field from above the ground, damage done by the bugs’ piercing mouthparts can only be detected after peanuts are harvested and sent for processing, resulting in unexpected revenue loss.

As climate variability increasingly affects producers across the Southeastern U.S., Wes Porter spends a lot of time thinking about water — specifically, crop irrigation — and how available tools can benefit farmers threefold.

For Scotty Raines, the best part of farming is watching the fruits of his labor — witnessing those tiny seeds crack through the ground, bursting with life. Awe and dedication have paid off for Raines, who was just recognized with the title of 2022 Georgia Farmer of the Year by the Georgia Agribusiness Council.

Using proven production practices to fight disease in the field, Georgia farmers produce half the peanuts grown in the U.S. each year. Modern peanut varieties carry few genetic defenses against some of the more devastating diseases, so peanut farmers carefully consider when to plant, whether to irrigate and when to apply fungicide and insecticide to keep those diseases from infecting the plant.

When University of Georgia peanut pathologist Bob Kemerait does something, he does it wholeheartedly. A passionate advocate for producers both near his academic home at the University of Georgia Tifton campus and around the world, Kemerait describes himself as “a field guy,” most comfortable among the rows detecting, diagnosing and addressing the myriad diseases and pests that threaten Georgia’s second-largest row crop.

All over the world, farmers are aging and young people are moving to more urban areas for economic opportunities. Leaders wonder what factors push young people to abandon agriculture and whether technology or other tools can make farming a more attractive option for the next generation. Next week, researchers from the University of Georgia and Virginia Tech will present early findings from research exploring those questions in Senegal, where a team surveyed more than 1,000 peanut-growing households to explore challenges among peanut producers and learn the main reasons why young people turn away from agriculture.

A decade ago, University of Georgia plant scientists David and Soraya Bertioli were living and working in Brazil when they began to wonder about peanut plants they encountered in different corners of the world with an astounding ability to withstand fungal diseases without the use of fungicides. The Bertiolis wondered if these different plants might all have something in common. Did they owe their natural resistance to a single genetic source?

The wild relatives of modern peanut plants have the ability to withstand disease in ways that modern peanut plants can’t. The genetic diversity of these wild relatives means that they can shrug off the diseases that kill farmers’ peanut crops, but they also produce tiny nuts that are difficult to harvest because they burrow deep in the soil.

Sean Posey didn’t see how agricultural economics would feed his love of math, but a decade into his grad school journey, he’s using those skills and interests to help improve farming practices in Africa. From information communication technologies to gender roles in information-sharing and incentivization programs that will improve groundnut health, Posey has been focused on improving agricultural practices and public safety for the past four years. At the University of Georgia completing his PhD, Posey is working on a research project led by professor Nick Magnan through the Peanut Innovation Lab

Passion, a loaded tractor and a little guidance is all it took for 11-year-old Wesley Cleveland to begin following in his father and namesake Wes Cleveland’s footsteps, becoming a reliable workhand on the family farm. Most notably described as ‘the future of agriculture’ by many in Early County, the younger Cleveland is contributing to Georgia’s nation-leading peanut crop production — and he’s doing most of it on his own.