It’s January once again, and that means it’s time for the Peanut Grower’s Pesticide Guide. The guide continues to include sections on identifying common diseases, insects and weeds found in peanuts. Pest management begins with correct identification of the problem. This information is reviewed and updated by experts in their fields. As farmers, you know who to go to for ... Read More »
Grower groups throughout the peanut belt do a good job of educating congressional staffers about the importance of our crop and of rural America, in general. Recently, the Georgia Peanut Commission and the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation hosted 20 such individuals in South Georgia. The staffers represented offices from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. Although this is important, it ... Read More »
My mom was a school teacher. For years she taught home economics, a useful class that is unfortunately no longer taught in schools. She eventually became the guidance counselor at the elementary school. Over the years, as we would see people in various places around town, she would say something like, “I taught her and I also taught her mom.” ... Read More »
I feel extremely blessed to be the editor of Peanut Grower and to have been able to do this working remotely from my home all these years. This has only been accomplished because of my access to reliable Internet. For years, I have used Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) to get a high-speed bandwidth connection, which goes over the phone line ... Read More »
In this issue of Peanut Grower, there is a lot of news about pesticides that reinforces my belief that it is getting more difficult to use products that you may have been using for decades. For example, on page 14, you can read more about the new regulations that will apply to paraquat by the fall. Additional training and certification ... Read More »
As the spring rolls on, the hope for better crop prices in peanuts or any rotation partner continues to diminish, as does the hope for a reduction in the peanut stockpile or improved trade. Frequent rains are keeping producers out of the field when they should be planting corn. When this happens, it tends to lead to more peanuts because ... Read More »
In mid-February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released state-by-state crop and stock reports. This was the first new data available from the department since the 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government. For some the numbers were better than expected, but for Arkansas producers, it only confirmed that it had been a tough year. Travis Faske, ... Read More »
Since attending the American Peanut Research and Education Society meeting last July, and then writing the National Peanut Board’s Research Review: The Future of Peanut Breeding, which can be found on Peanut Grower’s website, I have been more attuned to what goes in to creating the seed you plant each spring. This month’s 2019 Variety Guide is a continuation of ... Read More »
Although most of the peanut field provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill are the same, there is a change for producers of one state. U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) introduced the South Carolina Peanut Parity Act, which was included in the Farm Bill and passed the Senate and the House of Representatives as a part of ... 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 »
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