Will the crop be short and affect demand with higher prices? BY TYRON SPEARMAN CONTRIBUTING EDITOR A perceived peanut shortage and early signs of quality problems have sent the industry into a pricing frenzy. The impact could change the way the peanut...

Super Committee To Impact Farm Bill The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction or Super Committee has convened with the goal of cutting $1.5 trillion from the U.S. national budget over the next decade. Congress must adopt their recommendations by...

JOHN P. BEASLEY, JR. University of Georgia Extension Peanut Agronomist One thing we learned in 2011 is how resilient our current cultivars are under severely adverse conditions. Acreage planted in 2011 for seed production for 2012 was approximately 75 percent Georgia-06G, so...

New Bayer CropScience LinkUp Offer Bayer CropScience has announced the new LibertyLink LinkUp Offer, an addition to Innovation Plus programs. Farmers who plant a minimum 250 acres of LibertyLink soybeans and/or cotton will be eligible for a $2 per acre...

JOHN P. BEASLEY, JR. University of Georgia Extension Peanut Agronomist The major disease issue on peanut in 2010 in the Southeast was white mold (southern stem rot, southern blight). What made white mold so devastating was how early it became a serious...

Valley Introduces Pivot Cruise Control Valley Irrigation recently introduced Pivot Cruise Control software, which allows producers to be even more precise with chemigation and fertigation. With the patent pending Cruise Control, producers can program a center-pivot irrigation machine equipped with a...

A consistent, high quality, affordable supply is needed BY TYRON SPEARMAN CONTRIBUTING EDITOR A combination of factors worldwide, including strong cotton markets, poor quality from 2010 crops and record consumption, has caused peanut prices to dramatically increase in the last six months....

Planted Acreage Still A Question State peanut directors continue to debate USDA’s planted acreage estimates. Don Koehler, Georgia Peanut Commission executive director, says that unless contracts get close to $700 per ton, acreage in Georgia could be as low as 450,000...

By Amanda Huber Yesterday, I heard those words no one ever wants to hear. “We just can’t fix it, Mrs. Huber,” said the mechanic, at least not without a new engine that would cost several thousand dollars. My beloved Suburban is dying....

Good yields can be achieved, but the lack of a certified organic sheller is a road block for the Southeast. With careful timing at planting and frequent mechanical cultivation during production, growing organic peanuts throughout the Southeast, although a challenge,...

Many approaches will be needed for this destructive porcine. By Amanda Huber The biggest pest in peanuts today may be, well, the biggest pest, literally. Feral hogs are causing millions of dollars in damages to agricultural crops across the peanut belt....

Soon after emergence of the peanut crop, soil samples should be taken from the pegging zone, or the top three to four inches of soil, so that calcium needs can be determined. Glen Harris, University of Georgia Extension soil fertility...

When is offset replanting worth the cost? By Amanda Huber Gaps in the field are a common occurrence, and, for the most part, peanuts are good about compensating for lost plants here and there. But at what point would it be...

Systemic insecticides are an effective production tool. Over 90 percent of the North Carolina peanut acreage is treated annually with phorate (Thimet) or acephate (Orthene). This eliminates the need for most foliar insecticides, unless worms or mites become a...

Five tips for managing this common disease. It was nearly a white mold wipe out for some producers in 2010. The normal white mold “hits,” turned into full on “runs” in some fields as the temperatures skyrocketed and the rains...