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 »
Peanut planting was late in areas this year because of the rains, and those fields that were planted have tended to languish during the three weeks of constant rains. You can read more about the effects of the rain on the crop in several articles in this issue of Peanut Grower. Although management adjustments may be needed because of the ... Read More »
As of this writing, the Farm Bill is working its way through Congress with much posturing on all sides, but that is fairly usual for any piece of legislation. In the meantime, Secretary of Ag Sonny Perdue is continuing his work to remove burdensome regulations plaguing family farms. The latest item involves eliminating the requirement for producers to obtain Data ... Read More »
Weed management is the focus of the lead story in this issue. The primary article provides herbicide options for dryland peanut production, as researched by Steve Li, Alabama Cooperative Extension weed specialist. The side story is an overview of the impact and importance weeds have on different aspects of the world in which we live by Joyce Tredaway, Extension specialist ... Read More »
The cover of the 2018 NCSU Peanut Information book shows an interesting chart of peanut acreage and pod yield in North Carolina from 1909 to 2016. The solid line of yield goes from a little more than 600 pounds per acre in 1909 to a high point of about 4,400 pounds per acre most recently. The dotted line of peanut ... Read More »
I saw it happening, but I didn’t know what I was looking at. It turns out that neither did anyone else. What am I talking about? The collapse of peanut fields in Florida late in the 2017 season. It was a strange thing to behold. The field is one I pass on my way to town. Being that I’m a ... Read More »
Research projects begin and end often in our business. Yet, the announcement of the ending of the five-year Peanut Genomic Initiative is different. The goal was lofty — mapping all the genes in the peanut. The price tag was even more so: $6 million. But now that the project is complete and we have a map of genetic information in ... Read More »
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