Cotton and Peanut Field Day underway in Tifton - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Cotton and Peanut Field Day held in Tifton

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Donald Chase is a farmer in Macon County Donald Chase is a farmer in Macon County
Richey Seaton, GA Cotton Commissioner Richey Seaton, GA Cotton Commissioner
Scott Angle, Dean of UGA's Ag/Environ. Sciences Scott Angle, Dean of UGA's Ag/Environ. Sciences

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Like most industries, agriculture, Georgia's biggest industry, is being changed dramatically by technology.

But not all of those advances are in the equipment. There's another area where technology is changing the way farmers do business.

 Donald Chase is a farmer in Macon County. "I grow about 100 acres of corn and 490 acres of peanuts."

He's was one of dozens of farmers from Georgia and surrounding states who came to the research farms at the University of Georgia's Tifton campus today. They heard about how to make their yields better and how to do it without harming the environment.

For the UGA officials, today was about showing off their latest work and hearing from the people who work in the field on a daily basis.

"Our farmers are telling our researchers, what their problems, what their issues are, what they need," said Scott Angle, Dean of UGA's Ag/Environ. Sciences.

And some of the most exciting work from the scientists involves one of Georgia's most traditional crops.

They call it genomics. The goal is to break down peanuts like these to the most basic level.

 "It's laying a groundwork that we understand a little bit more about the peanut plant. And about the genomic structure. Then we can build off of that," said Chase.

If the genetic structure can be understood, producing peanuts that resist diseases such as spotted wilt will be possible. That would lead to increased yields to help feed a growing global population. Research to lead to those higher yields is being led by the scientists right here in Tifton.

"We're well known for our plant genomics work," Scott said.

Peanuts aren't the only South Georgia crop that will benefit from the research being done here.

"We also want to look at sustainable production and cotton through the years has had a tremendous record of reducing its environmental footprint," said Richey Seaton, GA Cotton Commissioner.

For both crops, the hope is to increase yields, and profits, for the farmers in South Georgia. 

At a luncheon held after the tour, the UGA scientists talked about the total yields for this year. They said that both cotton and peanuts are expected to approach records for yields this year, despite less than ideal weather conditions.

 

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