By CLINT THOMPSON

UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences 
 

Georgia's non-irrigated peanuts may have a very low yield potential due to a prolonged summer drought, said University of Georgia Extension peanut agronomist Scott Monfort.

"I think with the non-irrigated acres for most of the growing area, the yield potential has definitely diminished the last three to four weeks. How much is hard to say," Monfort said.

The rainfall Georgia received last week has been overshadowed by a month-long drought that covered parts

This dry land peanut field in east Tift County was dug on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

"Going out and looking at a lot of these fields, some of the vines are starting to collapse and, therefore, some people are going to have to start digging early or earlier than they need to or would like to," Monfort said.

"Some of them, in a few sporadic cases, have stopped putting resources into them because they don't think they're going to get it back out."

Monfort estimates that 40 to 50 percent of Georgia's peanuts are non-irrigated. Half of the state's crop could have a drastic reduction in yield potential when peanuts are harvested.

"There is still a crop out there, I will say that. Just how big of a crop it is, I just don't know. We hope the quality is going to be better than what we anticipate it to be," Monfort said.

The 14th Annual Ag Classic Golf Tournament at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will be Oct. 6 at ABAC's Forest Lakes Golf Course. There will be an 8 a.m. flight and a 1 p.m. flight.  A complimentary lunch will be served between flights.

The tournament is hosted by the ABAC Ag Alumni Council and the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources to provide scholarship funds for students in that area of study.

Open to the first 100 golfers who register, the event will be a four-man scramble with a shotgun start. There is an entry fee of $125 per person or a $500 entry fee for each four-person team that includes lunch, cart, greens fees, and an embroidered golf shirt with tournament logo.

A new addition to this year's Ag Classic will be the ball drop event.  Individuals can purchase numbered golf balls for a small fee. Participants can purchase one golf ball for $5, three golf balls for $10, or seven golf balls for $20.  A back hoe will drop the balls purchased onto a target area and the ball that comes closest to the target will be the grand prize winner.

Golf balls can be purchased by contacting tournament coordinator Vonda Fenn at 229-391-5067 or at  [email protected], through any Ag Alumni Council member, or by going online: www.abac.edu/academics/schools/ag-natural-resources/outreach/ag-classic.  Participants can also purchase golf balls until 12:45 p.m. on the day of the event.