Never before have two hurricanes caused such destruction and disruption in the peanut industry. • By Amanda Huber • Florence was a powerful storm that weakened before making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane. Michael continued to grow in strength even a little while after landfall. Florence dumped buckets of rain and freshwater flooding was the primary impact. Michael’s 155 mile ... Read More »

Being the editor of The Peanut Grower magazine is more than a job for me. In fact, this year marks 20 years. At the American Research and Education Society Meeting in July, I had an occasion to count up all my years in the peanut industry, which I figure to be close to 25. In other words, I’ve been around ... Read More »

The peanut industry has been jolted by two hurricanes this season. Florence hit North and South Carolina as harvest was about to start with flooding that caused rivers to overflow and covering crops waiting to be harvested. With about 40 percent of the Southeast peanut crop dug and harvested, Hurricane Michael plowed into the Florida Panhandle with 155 mile per ... Read More »

2018 Farm Bill The 2014 Farm Bill expired on Sept. 30, 2018. Congressional leaders now face the task of finding a compromise that can be approved by both chambers in a lame-duck session after the mid-term election. President Trump must sign the bill by the end of the calendar year. Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) says the impasse is bigger than ... Read More »

The theme of the meeting, ‘Celebrating The Past; Inspiring Our Future,’ was fitting for this event. • By Amanda Huber • American Peanut Research and Education Society meetings are always enjoyable and filled with opportunities to learn more about peanuts. For the 50th Anniversary meeting, two events stood out as particularly interesting and meaningful to me. 400 Years Of Peanut History ... Read More »

Two peanut farmers, one from Virginia and another from Mississippi, were selected as state winners of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award. Peanuts are an important part of the crop mix for two of the nine Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year state winners. Let’s take a closer look at the two peanut producers ... Read More »

NCSU’s Tom Stalker recognized for service to humanity through collecting, evaluating or conserving the Earth’s genetic resources. Peanuts are not only among North Carolina’s top agricultural commodities, they also represent a key source of protein for people around the world. Making them even better has been Tom Stalker’s life work. A professor and former head of North Carolina State University’s ... Read More »

This new resource from the Soil and Water Conservation Society offers how-to guides for implementing management practices. If you are looking to know more about the latest techniques for preserving water quality and reducing soil loss, there is now a one-stop resource for that information. The Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) recently unveiled the Conservation Media Library, a comprehensive ... Read More »

What are the factors affecting final sprays and digging decisions? The decision of whether to spray or not or when to start digging is not always an easy one. The decision is made more difficult when a storm or bad weather is predicted. Last year’s active hurricane season made end-of-season planning and execution tricky. Based on early season conditions and ... Read More »

Properly inverted plants will form a uniform, fluffy, well-aerated windrow with few pods touching the soil. When to dig peanuts is one of the most important decisions growers make each year. The hull-scrape method of determining peanut maturity is an accurate way of judging when to harvest. County Extension agents routinely run crop maturity checks using the peanut profile board ... Read More »