Tag Archives: Peanuts

Field Day Provides Crop, Research Updates

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Tifton, GA |

In Tifton recently, producers got an up close and personal look at the latest cotton and peanut research. It’s an event that’s an important one for producers as they get to see firsthand the important, grower funded work that’s being done that will keep the industry successful for years to come.

“We’re all in need of new information. Certainly in a trying times that we’ve got economically on the farm. We need to know the latest and the greatest, and of course, some of the stuff really won’t be available for commercial production for several years, but it’s good to have an idea of what our researchers are doing. The other side of it is it gives us a firsthand look at what our researchers are doing, the effort, the information and work that they’re putting in to get these improvements in our growing process and it just makes you feel good about how our research dollars are being spent,” says Joe Boddiford, Chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission.

Of course, another important aspect of the event is getting to hear updates from experts on this year’s crop. This year was of course a rough one from the start as producers had a hard time even getting the crop planted, which according to UGA’s Scott Monfort, has now delayed most of this year’s peanut crop.

“Overall this year has progressed to be a pretty decent year. Every year, we have a lot of bumps and bruises to get to where we’re at today. We had a lot of rainfall in May that pushed our planting season back 2 to 3 weeks. So, a lot of our acres were planted last week of May going into June. Then we went from being extremely wet to extremely hot and dry in June. So, we fought some things to get this crop up and going,” says Extension Peanut Agronomist, Scott Montfort.

Since getting it up and going, producers have still had a challenging time, as the weather has caused a number of disease issues for peanut producers.

“Problem we face this year has been tomato spotted wilt virus. It will be a problem every single year, but growers need to look in their fields now. More spotted wilt than you want? What could you have done earlier to do it? Leaf spot diseases are always a problem for Georgia’s peanut farmers, always; but this year they’ve been a little bit slow to develop. I think that that warm, dry weather we had mid-season kind of was a restart button for this disease. Now growers are facing leaf spot diseases. They need to take an opportunity to manage them, but I think it’s been a little slow. The disease that’s been number one issue for us and certainly environmentally driven has been part of that has been white mold. White mold flourishes when we have warm, moist, humid nighttime temperatures. We’ve had that even when we’re not getting rain. If we have heat, if we have warm days, it can be,” says Bob Kemerait, Extension Plant Pathologist.

Monfort says that the rollercoaster of weather has continued to be a trend all throughout the growing season, as even now, dryland peanuts are suffering from the lack of rain. However, he says despite that, the crop could still turn out to be a decent one.

“The dryland crop is struggling. That’s around 49 percent of our crop is dryland. We had a lot more irrigated this time. And so that’s the one that I’m really concerned about as far as how is that going to fare out. I think it’s, it’s a good, maybe slightly above average crop,” says Monfort.

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Federal-State Inspection Service’s Important Role within the Peanut Industry

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Ty Ty, GA |

Each Fall, all across the state, peanuts are dug up, harvested, and taken to buying points that will shell them and market them to their final destination. However, an important part of that process is what’s called grading, which is completed by the Georgia Federal-State Inspection service, that ensures both the grower and shellers receive a non-biased grade that’s used to make sure all parties get compensated fairly.

“We’re an organization founded in 1927 to be a non-biased third party between the buyer and the producer. Mostly in Georgia it’s peanuts, but it’s different commodities also. What we really do is we ensure that the buyer isn’t paying too much for the peanuts and the producer is getting a fair amount for the peanuts as well. So, our organization doesn’t lean toward one side or the other. We’re here to be a nonbiased party,” says Willie Musselwhite, District Manager for the GA Federal-State Inspection Service.

According to Musselwhite, the job is one that’s taken very seriously, as they strive for uniformity so that it’s an equal playing field for everyone, which is why when they take samples from each truck, they work it in a very methodical way to ensure it’s done properly and consistently.

“To the farmer, he wants to get paid. He worked very hard to produce this product and he wants to get paid the ultimate price for his profit. So, once we are going in there and determine the grade, it really determines how much the farmer’s getting paid for his peanuts. So, if it grades really high, he wants a premium grade for his peanuts, but on the other hand, if it were to grade a lower grade, the buyer would not want to pay that premium price for it. So, what we’re doing is we’re telling the farmer, and the buyer; this this is what you have. We don’t set the prices for them, USDA and the buyers, they set the prices, but whatever grade it has that determines the price on the peanut,” says Musselwhite.

Musselwhite says that the grading process is also important because it can help further improve peanut production here in Georgia as it gives researchers, breeders, and growers information that can be useful in the future.

“Georgia produces technically 50 percent of nation’s peanuts and we strive every year to produce different varieties; University of Georgia, yield better yields and make higher quality peanuts. So, we do the research through grading, different trials and all that they’re trying to make a better product. Because after a while, the problems you have now, it fails to grade what it was . We’re always having different things come out the university system and different geneticists are making it happen. It’s very important for the peanut industry to have to have somebody doing that because it’ll provide more income for the farmers in the long run and a better quality peanut for the shellers, the candymakers, and the industry in general,” says Musselwhite.

By: John Holcomb

Annual Peanut Farm Show Provides Growers with Insight

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Tifton, GA |

For almost five decades, peanut growers in Georgia have convened at the Georgia Peanut Farm Show – an annual event facilitating fellowship among producers, showcasing cutting-edge equipment, and providing updates from industry experts.

“We always see new challenges on the farm and there’s always some new technology and maybe new ways of doing the same things. So, we get this to look at maybe new planters or updated harvest machinery. And so, it’s always an opportunity for us to think about how we’re doing things and maybe there’s some changes we would like to make to our own production system. It’s a really good opportunity to just see what’s out there,” expressed Donald Chase, Vice Chairman of the GA Peanut Commission.

In addition to networking with vendors and exploring new equipment, attendees participated in production seminars led by industry experts like Scott Monfort, an Extension Peanut Agronomist at the University of Georgia. Monfort addressed the tumultuous year for growers, highlighting the detrimental impact of weather fluctuations on crop yields.

“Unfortunately, if we get into a situation with a disease problem or insect problem, yeah, they might have done some damage, but we can get in there and correct that pretty quick and it wouldn’t hurt as much, but when you’re talking about the weather and its impact on the overall growth and productivity of the plant, you really don’t see that as a whole until you start digging. It’s not uncommon for us to see that in a small geographic location, but not across the whole state,” explained Monfort.

The adverse growing conditions led to a challenging harvest season, as Monfort noted grading issues stemming from the erratic weather patterns witnessed statewide.

“Not only did non-irrigated get impacted, but our irrigated did too. That’s where we had pods that aborted some of the nuts. We didn’t get them formed. They didn’t fill out all the way to the hull. So, we get smaller peanuts. Dry land didn’t produce much at all in some areas. So it just just compounded on us and then this whole grade issue was with what happened in May, then what happened in June and July. If we would have stayed hot in late August going into September and October, we could have corrected some of that because the plant could have really put on a lot of pods and matured them out, but we didn’t, we cooled off. So that hit us again,” Monfort elaborated.

Bob Kemerait, Extension Plant Pathologist at UGA, emphasized the significant role of disease pressure alongside unfavorable weather conditions.

“The yields that came off of last year were disappointing to a lot of growers. We weren’t at the top; it wasn’t a terrible year, but we weren’t the best. Some of the things that affected that was tomato spotted wilt virus and also white mold. So, a lot of that was environmentally driven. The hot, dry weather made the white mold worse, especially for farmers with non-irrigated fields. Also, our tomato spotted wilt virus, based upon some of the early situations in the 2023 crop was more severe, and so in part, the disappointing yield was not just the growing season, but it was growing season in concert with things like tomato spotted wilt virus and white mold,” Kemerait explained.

By: John Holcomb

46th Peanut Farm Show Educates Producers on Devastating Disease

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Tifton, GA

For the past forty-six years, peanut growers here in Georgia have made their way to the Georgia Peanut Farm Show – a yearly event that gives producers the chance to fellowship with one another, see the latest and greatest equipment, and hear updates from experts on the industry.

“It’s just a great, information sharing show here for peanut growers and peanut representatives. Those who quit learning, quit growing, and certainly in today’s technological age and the environmental concerns that we have, there’s new information, there are changes if not every day, certainly every year and we need to update our farmers and keep them as up to date and informed as we can about issues and new products that are coming up, so that we can continue to be profitable in the industry we all love,” says Joe Boddiford, Chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission.

Aside from getting to meet with vendors and see the newest equipment, producers also got to attend production seminars in which industry experts, like Bob Kemerait, an Extension Plant Pathologist with the University of Georgia, spoke about a devastating disease many growers dealt with this past season known as tomato spotted wilt virus.

“The disease caused by tomato spotted wilt virus leads to significant yield reduction,” says Kemerait. “It leads to stunting of the plant, wilting of the plant, and also leads to a much lower pod yield on it, and so if we don’t manage tomato spotted wilt virus it’s very likely that our yields could be off by thousands of pounds, and that’s why it’s so important. We’ve been seeing this virus, tomato spotted wilt virus in peanuts since the mid nineties. The problem in 2022, the 2022 season was it was more severe than it’s been in recent years. It was really, in some fields, was devastating, and we’re not exactly sure why that was but we believe the Winter we had, or didn’t have – it was a warm winter, the impact on the thrips populations, the vectors that transmit the virus may have been a factor, but also because it’s been a few years since our growers have had a really bad year with the disease, they may be becoming a little bit lax, not focusing as much on all the management strategies that they have.”

Kemerait says the importance of having the correct management strategy can’t be overstated, as growers only have one chance to keep the virus under control.

“When they close the furrow, when they move their tractors out of the field, there’s nothing really else they can do to protect the crop, and the UGA Peanut Team works with growers to facilitate the information and also help them understand they get once chance to fight this disease. You either put the right combination down at planting or you don’t. There’s no going back,” says Kemerait.

It’s because of that reason Kemerait says it’s vital producers utilize Peanut RX – a planting tool that will help them minimize the risk of the disease on their operations as they gear up for this upcoming season.

“If you are serious about fighting tomato spotted wilt virus in 2023, you must pay attention to Peanut RX,” says Kemerait. “Peanut RX is available to our growers through a website, peanutrx.org they can also go to our production guides, the University of Georgia extension and they can also get it from various companies as well; following the steps to minimize the risk of this very important disease.”

By: John Holcomb