Market Watch

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 »

By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor Despite a whopping supply from 2012, no Farm Bill, a sequester situation and a full-on government shutdown, the peanut market is going strong. Planting season was unusually cool and wet, and rains continued through the season affecting yield by possibly as much as 25 percent. Those who did not receive record rainfall will achieve ... Read More »

Phenomenal success has been achieved by working together and accepting change. By John Baldwin Retired Professor Emeritus Along with a few others, The Peanut Grower magazine, which is now celebrating its 25th anniversary in circulation, has been an avenue for distributing information to all facets of the peanut industry. Most of us are resistant to change, but in the following ... Read More »

USDA Announces New Program Manager Michael Schultz, Deputy Administrator of USDA Farm Programs has announced that DeAnn Allen will be the new Market Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency Payments (MAL/LDP) Program Manager for peanuts. Allen was born and raised in northwestern North Dakota, is a University of North Dakota graduate, lived on a farm and worked in a county FSA ... Read More »

A lower-than-estimated planting report could bring markets to life By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor The 2013 U.S. peanut crop is off to a slow start. Producers faced a cold spring and markets that were just as disappointing. Many farmers wanted to plant corn, but after conditions were too cold and too wet, they waited to plant peanuts or cotton. ... Read More »

No contract offers to encourage peanut planting By J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor Every peanut year is different. But 2013 is mounting to be the most unusual in the history of the peanut industry. Planting has begun in most regions without any signing of contracts, and never before has China been a prominent factor in the peanut market. Plus, it ... Read More »