The peanut stage is set. Producers across America have studied the 2014 Farm Bill, selected their coverage options and worked to establish the facts they’ll work by. Federal Crop Insurance has been improved for peanuts, and agents have worked to sell their plans to farmers. Seed has been ordered, and Mother Nature has supplied mostly good winter rains and offered ... Read More »
Make sure your seed are certified and properly handled The American peanut industry is poised for growth and expansion. Analysts are predicting a 20 to 25 percent increase in acreage for the 2015 season. Since farmers learned more about Price Loss Coverage (PLC) in the new Farm Bill and hear predictions of a $100 per-acre payment in October after the ... Read More »
The real peanut market has been quiet as industry players strive to determine their future in the U.S. peanut business. Farmers have been studying the new Market Assistance Loan program and the new rules that were issued from the 2014 Farm Bill. USDA has done an excellent job in interpreting the new Farm Bill and smoothing out the explanations so ... Read More »
The U.S. peanut industry is poised for disaster if farmers plant wall to wall peanuts. All the talk is that peanut acreage will be back to 2012 levels or above, a 25 to 30 percent increase. Peanut prices are already dropping from $400 per ton in the Southeast to a floor of $380 per ton with limits on poundage per ... Read More »
It was an odd year in row-crop agriculture, especially in the Southeast. Some producers had two months of too much rain, then two months with little or no rain and two months of unusual harvest conditions ripe with various problems. Prices have fallen so low, the farmer may have to extend payback of loans to next year. In thinking about ... Read More »
The U.S. peanut market wants to grow and expand, but the market's dynamics seem to have adjusted to one step forward and two steps back. The industry tries to minimize risks, but many unknowns have all segments nervous, and answers are needed so a true, fair market can prevail. Lots of questions remain to be answered on the 2014 crop. How has drought impacted quantity and quality in Georgia, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina where 80 percent of the peanuts are grown? How bad will aflatoxin be? Can U.S. peanuts meet European Union quality requirements and keep that momentum? Blanching capacity is maxed out and on-time delivery may be a problem. The logistics of keeping good quality irrigated peanuts separate from dryland peanuts is a challenge at the buying point and sheller. Another unknown is farmer-stock contracts. Today, peanut contracts are a mystifying dilemma. The shellers are trying to find a balance...buy a reasonable supply of peanuts at a reasonable price for their customers while keeping the farmer profitable. Read More »
Uncertainty in the peanut market created by the Farm Bill and the lack of profitable alternatives has peanut farmers worried about the future and where the industry is headed. USDA further doomed market potential by estimating that U.S. peanut acreage would rebound by 29 percent this year, up 309,000 acres, to nearly 1.4 million acres. Most states held acreage to ... Read More »
The approval of the Farm Bill by the House and Senate and with the President’s signature will eventually, and hopefully, eliminate some uncertainty in the industry and help make peanut markets more transparent to the grower. However, writing about it at this time is difficult because rules and regulations are not finalized. Early comments from the grower leadership have been ... Read More »
By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor With the 2012 crop still being shelled and a 2013 crop stored and ready for shelling, supply has caused a lull in any excitement. Other commodities seem to be experiencing the same problem. Farmers are hoping markets get better for all commodities before planting. Populations will double by 2050, but if a farmer can’t ... Read More »
By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor A pipeline of old and new crop peanuts and cheap prices from other commodities have dampened the hopes of a profitable 2014 for producers. The 2012 crop filled warehouses, and producers, knowing that production had to be reduced to allow supply and demand to keep prices high enough to make peanut growing profitable, reduced ... Read More »
Peanut Grower One Grower Publication