TIFTON, Ga.– For many first time attendees on the 25th annual Georgia Peanut Tour the event provided them with an opportunity to actually walk through a peanut field and see peanuts plowed up with a digger at harvest. The tour kicked off last week and highlighted a cross section of the peanut industry. The tour was held September 27-29, 2011, in the Southwest area of Georgia with stops in some of the top ten peanut producing counties in Georgia including Decatur, Seminole, Miller and Early counties.

The Georgia Peanut Tour brings the latest information on peanuts while giving a first-hand view of industry quality and infrastructure from production and handling to processing and utilization. The 2011 tour included farm visits, peanut harvest clinics, production research at the University of Georgia Attapulgus Research and Education Center, peanut handling and grading facilities and on-farm demonstrations. The tour also included a visit to LMC and American Peanut Growers Group in Donalsonville, Ga., Birdsong Peanuts, JLA and Olam Edible Nuts in Blakely, Ga.

The event hosted participants from 12 states and international attendees from Belgium, Canada and Argentina. The Georgia Peanut Tour is coordinated by the Georgia Peanut Commission, the University of Georgia Tifton and Griffin Campus, Southwest Georgia Research and Education Center in Plains, Attapulgus Research and Education Center and the USDA ARS National Peanut Research Laboratory in Dawson, Ga. A blog highlighting tour stops throughout last week is available online at www.gapeanuts.com.