Peanut picking recently got a little easier and safer on the University of Georgia Tifton Campus thanks to the donation of a used two-row peanut combine refurbished by the Kelley Manufacturing Company in Tifton.

The combine was given to the UGA Peanut Team last year by Jimmy Cheney. The Calhoun County native and former board of director for the Georgia Peanut Commission passed away earlier this year. A two-row combine is not common anymore, but it’s what’s best used to harvest small test plots like those planted by College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences researchers.

But the equipment needed some work, said John Beasley, CAES peanut agronomist in Tifton.

KMC donated time, effort and resources to refurbish it, engineering safety features and redirecting the blower away from workers who stand on the picker to collect plot samples as it travels down rows.

“We have great respect for the work Dr. Beasley and UGA does for peanuts. They have been helpful to us in many ways. We need to know how peanuts especially these newer varieties harvest. Even if they don’t immediately know the answers, they are always willing to find out for us,” said E. Lanier Carson, KMC chairman of the board.

“The college is very grateful for this gift and for the work donated to refurbish it into what is now practically a new piece of equipment in many ways. The UGA Peanut Team is the best in the world. The research that this picker will directly contribute to will help growers across the state and country continue to produce a safe and sustainable peanut crop,” said Scott Angle, CAES dean and director.