One of the sponsors that has been supporting the Southern Peanut Growers Conference for all ten years of its existence is Syngenta and district sales manager Lyle Stewart says its just part of their support for the industry.
“We just appreciate having an opportunity to offer good quality products to peanut growers,” Lyle said. “A lot of the growers that we see at this conference are people that we see on a weekly basis so they are more like friends.”
Syngenta is sponsoring the Tuesday evening dinner and entertainment. “These peanut growers work hard all year long so when we have an opportunity to sponsor a function like we have tonight its a true opportunity for us to say thank you.”
Listen to an interview with Lyle here:
Lyle Stewart (3:00 min MP3)
Posted by Cindy Zimmerman 
Rawlins talked about the current situation and what the so-called “experts” are saying – and why agricultural producers seem to be getting left out of the equation. The “no-brainer” is that we need to increase food production worldwide. “Some of the other things we need to do is adopt new technology,” Scott says. “Pesticides, fertilizers, and improved seeds are crucial to developing long-term sustainability and food production globally.”
Posted by Cindy Zimmerman 
USDA Undersecretary Dr. Gale Buchanan may work in Washington, DC but his heart is in the southeast. “I spent 21 years at Auburn University conducting research in peanuts and other crops,” said Buchanan. “Then went to the University of Georgia as the director of the Coastal Plain Experiment Station and dean at the college of agriculture.” He also attended the University of Florida, so he is a “triple Southerner.”
Posted by Cindy Zimmerman 
The
Three producers from the major peanut growing regions of the country were honored Tuesday morning as the 2008 Peanut Profitability Award Winners, presented by Farm Press/Penton Media and the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation. 
Nine different companies have been sponsors of the Southern Peanut Growers Conference since the very beginning ten years ago. Those sponsors were recognized by the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation for their support on Monday prior to the opening general session.
Joy Carter with the Georgia Peanut Commission, who is also editor of Southeastern Peanut Farmer magazine and responsible for outreach to media and growers, came up with the idea of using the blog for conference coverage. 
A great interactive session held on Monday at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference should be a required course for every agricultural producer in the country.
Split into groups, they were assigned a member of Congress to represent. They then had to consider several different bills – such as increasing educational funding for immigrants or restricting fishing in the Atlantic – and vote on them. Once they voted, they received or were docked points based on their constituency’s reaction to their vote. The final number of points determined whether or not they would be re-elected.
It was a great exercise that taught producers more than just hearing someone talk about the importance of having their voices heard in Congress. Bob Redding, Washington representative for the Georgia Peanut Commission and the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, says it’s important for growers to understand how members of Congress decide how they are going to vote on issues.
“We in the peanut industry work in a vacuum, we’re focused on the success of one product,” Bob says. “That’s not the case with members of Congress. We’re one constituency and we have to take that into account. Bottom line is, we have to make a really good case on any of our issues.”
Peanuts are considered to be a specialty or minor crop to many chemical companies and often it is the case that minor use crops get the benefits of major crop developments. 
Nine companies have been sponsors of the Southern Peanut Growers Conference for all ten years of its existence and one of them is 
