John P. Beasley, Jr.
Professor and Extension Peanut Agronomist
Crop and Soil Sciences Department
University of Georgia
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Very Poor
Poor
Fair
VA
NC
Good
SC
Excellent
• Responded on June 8
• Peanut stands appear to be good, despite
dry conditions at planting and cool temps
for early planting and hot temps for later
planting
• Recently received ½ to 1 inch of rain,
depending upon the area. More still
needed
• Final acreage not known until end of June
• My understanding is all acreage planted
by now (June 8)
• Acreage will be somewhat less than 2010
(18,000 acres)
• Reasons for acreage decline: good cotton
prices, EPA regulations on Vapam use, and
loss of Temik
• Key cultivars: Bailey, CHAMPS, Phillips,
Perry, Sugg
Responded on June 10
100% planted
Adequate stands
Peanuts holding up better than all other
crops
• We can still have an excellent crop if the
weather changes for the better
•
•
•
•
• Effective June 1, Dr. Scott Monfort
assumed the position of Extension Peanut
Specialist, Clemson University, replacing Dr.
Jay Chapin. He will be based at Clemson
University’s Edisto Research Center near
Blackville, SC
• Scott is native of south Georgia, B.S. degree
from UGA, served as county Extension agent
in GA, completed M.S. degree in plant
pathology from UGA under Dr. Albert
Culbreath, Ph.D. from Univ. of Arkansas,
served as Ext. Plant Pathologist on row crops
for Univ. of Arkansas the past few years.
• Responded on June 8
• SC peanut crop is up to generally good
stands
• Overall, most of the state has been very
fortunate through the first of June
getting some timely rains
• However, areas of the southern counties
(Barnwell, Allendale, Hampton) have been
in extended drought.
• With consistent temps in the mid 90’s
over a 10-day period, the rest of the
state is now marginal on soil moisture .
• Growers are understandably concerned
about the projections of continued dry
weather through July.
• The current production priority is killing
weeds under less than optimal control
conditions.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Very Poor
Poor
Fair
TX
OK
Good
Excellent
• Responded on June 7
• Acreage should be right around 8,000;
contract price around $1,000
• Cultivars: Valencia–C, Valencia-A, GenTex136, GenTex 118, GenTex 119, GenTex 122
• It has been very dry and too windy; a few
growers who planted cotton have to re-plant
with peanut
• Since Oct 2010, 1.5-3.0 inches of rain; first
rain of 2011 was last week accounting for
1.5-2.0 inches
• Responded on June 8
• Oklahoma peanut crop got off to a cool
start but we have had above normal
temperatures over the last two weeks and
the crop is progressing good.
• It appears acreage will hold around
20,000 acres, similar to 2010.
• Stands are generally good with the
exception where wind and irrigation was
not timely.
• Responded on June 8
• Oklahoma peanut crop got off to a cool
start but we have had above normal
temperatures over the last two weeks and
the crop is progressing good.
• It appears acreage will hold around
20,000 acres, similar to 2010.
• Stands are generally good with the
exception where wind and irrigation was
not timely.
• Responded on June 10
• Texas acreage down 40-50%.
• Severe drought conditions (many parts of
peanut producing region of Texas have
not had substantial rainfall since October
2010).
• Third worse drought on record (1918 and
1956).
• Have already reached 100+ temps for
many days (very unusual this time of year)
• Of the planted acres:
a. % Good Stand - 75% (some not as bad as
we think and not any worse than other
years)
b. % Skippy Stand - 20%
c. % No Stand - <5%
• % Acres Not Planted - 98% of the acres
in Texas is irrigated, therefore very few
acres not watered to establish stand.
• However, there are some acres that will
not get planted in South Texas due to the
fact that they can not pull water off corn
or vegetables to water up peanut.
• This could lead us to 50% acre reduction.
• The biggest concern now will be keeping
up with the water demands of peanut.
• If drought and heat continue we will not
be able to keep up with water
requirements.
• So likely even on some of our better
watered fields, yields will be off.
• Ability, or lack thereof, to keep up with
irrigation demands will determine yield of
this crop.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Very Poor
Poor
MS
Fair
FL
AL
Good
GA
Excellent
• Responded on June 14
• Acreage should be right around 17,000 18,000
• Crop can be divided into two groups: those
that are dry and those that have not seen a
rain
• North MS was delayed in planting due to wet
conditions, and is now really dry.
• The south end of the state went from early
March till last week with essentially no rain.
• Stands are skippy and many acres had to be
re-planted.
• Pre-emergent herbicides were ineffective
due to the dry weather.
• This is resulting in extremely high weed
control costs.
• False chinch bugs and burrower bugs have
been a problem in several location, and I'm
sure that wireworms and lessers are present
as well, however I have had no calls about
them.
• Calls started this week about bollworms and
armyworms.
• Thrips were especially heavy early in the
season.
• I hate to be so glum, but if we don't get
some significant rain real soon, we will be in
serious trouble.
• Most of the corn in south MS is now being
cut for silage or baleage. The tallest field I
have been in was only about 4 feet tall.
• Responded on June 7
• Things are tough in Florida. We still have
some peanuts that are not planted and
stands that are very spotty due to
drought.
• There have been showers around that
have helped some get planted but we are
getting late. We need a good general
rain.
• We may be down 15% in acreage from last
year if those who have peanut seed can't get
planted in the next few days.
• Weed control is not good due to dry soil
conditions. Palmer amaranth seems to like
the dry weather fine and may increase our
problems in many fields.
• Many growers are concerned that yields will
be lower with the late planting even if we
start to get plenty of rain. There is no
general rain in the two week forecast.
• Last year was one of the best planting
and harvest seasons that we have ever
had and this may be one of the worse for
planting.
• Several growers that irrigate from ponds
are about out of water from irrigating
corn and will not have any available for
peanut or cotton.
• Responded on June 12
• 2011 has been one of the driest springs
that we have ever faced in Alabama.
• This has made it extremely difficult to
get the crop off to a good start.
• Most places across the state received
less than an inch of rain in April and less
than 0.5 inch in May.
• Most everyone planted the acres of
peanuts they wanted.
• However only about 50% are up to a good
stand, 25% are skippy, 15% are lying in
dry dirt, and the last 10% will hopefully
be planted by the time you give this talk.
• In the last few days we have received
some small scattered showers.
• Maybe this trend will continue and break
the cycle of this dry weather.
• Several producers are starting to spray
some herbicides now where they have
received the recent rain showers.
• Up to then there was no need to spray
due to the stress of the crop and weeds.
• I still think Alabama's acreage is only
down around the 10-15% level from 2010.
• Some producers did change more acres to
cotton at the end due to the dry weather.
• Reported as of June 18
• Worst start to Georgia peanut crop since
1986
• Severity of drought severely hampered
planting on timely basis
• USDA estimated GA would plant 540,000
acres. My estimate is that we will be
below 500,000. Possibly as low as
450,000
• Planting on non-irrigated acreage was
halted in mid to late May.
• Only very isolated rain events have
allowed some non-irrigated acreage to be
planted over the past several weeks.
• I recommended that growers DO NOT
plant seed if there is no moisture in the
2.0 - 2.5 inch range of the soil surface.
• How does start of 2011 compare to other
years that were dry at start?
18
16
14
12
10
1961 – 1990 = 9.4
1971 – 2000 = 8.5
Avg. for 75-day period of April 1 – June 14 = about 9.0
8
6
4
2
0
2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1990 1986
• May 1 – June 15 at Tifton
– 0.43 inches of rain, of which 0.42 fell on
June 6. It was a very isolated rain event that
missed most all of Tift County except where
the weather station was located.
• Friday, June 17
– A significant portion of south Georgia had a
good soaking rain.
– Rainfall totals were 1.0 – 3.0 inches in many
locations.
• This DID NOT break the drought!!
• This week the rainfall chances are still
low and temps climb back to near 100.
110
2011
105
2003
100
95
Avg. Max Temp for June = 91
90
85
80
75
70
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
• Very hot temperatures could flare “white
mold” (southern stem rot, southern
blight) earlier than normal like it did in
2010
• White mold was number one pest problem
in GA in 2010.
• White mold typically begins showing up
around 60 DAP.
• In 2010, many fields had problems by 45
DAP.
• Insect problems have occurred earlier
and at higher levels
– Lesser cornstalk borer
– Tobacco budworm
– Cutworm
– Beet armyworm
• No idea if burrower bug will be
problematic again in 2011
• Weed management has been difficult in
extreme dry conditions
• Fewer than expected calls on stand problems
• It has been so dry that producers that
might have had some marginal quality seed
did not have any seedling emergence due to
extremely dry soil.
• The major question has been how late can we
plant?
– I like wrapping up by June 15 but there will be a
higher than normal % of the acreage planted
between June 15 and 25
– We need a warm October and early November
like last year to mature all of the SE crop
• Bottom line in GA
– This will go down as a very expensive crop to
produce, even if weather conditions improve
from here on out.
– Producers have already had to invest above
and beyond normal inputs, especially to
control weeds and insects. Disease
management costs will also be above normal
this year.
This presentation is available at
www.ugapeanuts.com
(in the “Quick Links” window on home page, 2011
USA Peanut Congress, U.S. Peanut Crop Update)