Tifton, GA |

Every January, peanut producers from across Georgia converge in Tifton for the annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show—a long-standing tradition that gives growers the chance to reconnect, get equipped with the latest tools and technology, and gain insights from industry leaders that could impact their upcoming season.

“It’s a good choice to come in this time of the year to gather information to help them be more profitable in this coming year,” said Rodney Dawson, Chairman of the Georgia Peanut Farm Show. “Tough times for farming. It’s in a tough situation now with market prices of so many commodities, and this just gives them a choice to come look and see the latest data so they make choices to help them on the farm.”

In addition to networking and browsing new equipment on the trade show floor, producers sat in on production seminars featuring updates from experts like Dr. Scott Monfort, Extension Peanut Agronomist with the University of Georgia. Monfort addressed the significant challenges growers faced in the previous season—particularly due to unpredictable weather.

“Weather’s caused problems now three years in a row,” said Monfort. “We had six weeks of dry, hot weather that caused blooming problems. We had to extend the maturity of these things out a little bit… to try to get as much weight as we could. And so that caused, you know, delays… But also 900,000 acres; it caused some bottlenecks getting peanuts in, so overall, I think it was a decent year.”

That record acreage—911,000 acres to be exact—may not be something growers can continue to replicate, according to Monfort. He warns that sustainability, both financial and agronomic, must be carefully considered in 2026 planning.

“You know, that’s the largest we’ve had since World War Two,” he said. “Can we sustain that? I would say probably not. Not for a long period of time. Now, can we do it one more year if we had to? Maybe. But… we’re not going to get any money for it, you know, barely above loan.”

He added that as short crop rotations increase, so too will disease pressure and input costs, further tightening profit margins.

It’s that pressure that makes the fundamentals more important than ever, said Dr. Bob Kemerait, Extension Plant Pathologist at UGA.

“My message today was, why might you thought you were doing it right last year? You invested in the fungicides and selected the varieties. You did everything you thought you should—and why didn’t it go your way?” said Kemerait. “Sometimes just the basics. It’s the timing of applications. It’s how often you spray… So my message today was, we’ve got to fight diseases. We’ve got to fight nematodes. But going into 2026, it’s more important than ever to make sure we don’t forget the basics on timing, application strategies, making sure that we’re getting the most out of what we invest in.”

By: John Holcomb