DAWSON, Ga. (WALB) - The peanut industry plays a very important role in the Georgia economy.

Georgia farmers produce almost half of the United States peanut crop each year, and the industry contributes more than 50,000 jobs in Georgia alone, according to the Georgia Farm Bureau.

The weather has played a significant role in peanut harvesting during the 2024 crop season, and farmers say their goal this year is sustainability and sharing their love for peanut harvesting with the world.

Riley Davis is a fourth-generation farmer who has seen the highs and lows of farming.

“I’m really surprised and overwhelmed at the amount of international people here today, and so many of them have never seen this or the mechanicals inverting peanuts,” Davis said.

He says that with the cost of machinery and mother nature, this peanut season has been tough on the average commercial farmer.

“We’ve been extremely dry, not much rainfall. We irrigated a lot, power bill, fuel bills from irrigation have been really high, so costs that are not overhead that you don’t hope to spend have been cutting things really tight,” Davis said.

The Georgia Peanut Commission says they are improving facilities around the South to help farmers get the best out of their peanut crops.

Christiane Pilon is a peanut physiologist at the University of Georgia.

“They are planting their peanuts based on disease tolerance and other traits the culture has, but in general, we try to provide this information so people are aware that Georgia peanuts are good and important for us and the entire United States,” Pilon said.

South Georgia visitors say seeing the amount of work that goes into peanut farming is “remarkable.”

“So much effort that goes into this and it’s a huge shoutout to all the farmers that do all this peanut work,” said Christopher Suntle, a developer for International Foods in Chicago.

The next generation of farmers say they’re excited to walk in the footsteps of other farmers in South Georgia.

“You get to ride the tractor a lot, so I like it a lot,” said Luke Davis, a 5th-generation farmer.

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