Aerial video shows Georgia record peanut harvest well underway

Drone catches bird’s-eye view of Georgia Peanut Tour and a small slice of what might be Georgia’s largest and highest-quality peanut crop ever.

Brad Haire | Sep 24, 2017

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Georgia peanut harvest kicked into high gear last week on Lee Farm in Brownood, Ga., and the 2017 Georgia Peanut Tour stopped by to show national and international peanut enthusiasts the action.

Seth McAllister, University of Georgia Extension agent in Terrell County, had his drone there, too, and caught a bird’s-eye view of the tour stop and captured a small slice of what might be Georgia’s largest and highest-quality peanut crop ever.

The weather was great and the timing was good for the 170 attendees of the annual peanut tour this year who travelled to Georgia to see how the highest-quality peanuts in the world are grown, handled and turned into nutritious food.

Lee Farm is owned and operated by Ronnie Lee and his sons Ron, Neil and Chandler. Along with peanuts, they farm cotton, corn, wheat, pecans and soybeans, along with cattle and hay in five southwest Georgia counties. Ronnie is also the current National Cotton Council chairman. During the stop, he said this year’s peanut crop might be the best quality he has ever seen.

If current USDA projections hold true, Georgia farmers will average a record yield of 4,700 pounds per acre. Most Georgia peanut experts on the tour said a more-realistic average state yield for peanuts will likely fall between 4,200 to 4,300 pounds per acre. Either way, the state’s peanut crop is expected to be strong. Pegged now by USDA to be 3.90 billion pounds, or 40 percent more than last year, Georgia farmers are looking at the bumper of all bumper peanut crops if weather cooperates through harvest, which will likely run into November this year.

Editor’s note: Southeast Farm Press appreciates Seth McAllister for providing the footage for this video. He used his DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone, and he has a commercial license to operate it.