Stress in agriculture has never been greater. Two major hurricanes, Irma and Michael, quality problems and now germination issues, low commodity prices, COVID-19 pandemic, riots and unrest in cities, talk of food shortages, a devastating court ruling on a popular chemical product…the list seems endless. The U.S. peanut market has remained quiet during the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been no ... Read More »
I had a birthday recently. It was one of those big ones where the front number rolls over. In planning a family gathering to celebrate the event, my mother got the idea to dig out some pictures. I am old enough now that this task involves converting trays of slides into digital pictures. One by one, with the help of ... Read More »
The Alabama Peanut Producers Association donated 14,400 jars of peanut butter to the Alabama Food Bank Association to assist eight regional food banks with feeding their communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain on hunger-relief efforts around the state, and peanut butter is a favorite item for food banks, according to a news release. “Alabama peanut farmers are especially ... Read More »
More Assistance To Farmers, Ranchers Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee Chairman John Hoeven recently announced the approval of $19 billion for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to support farmers and ranchers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program includes $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers, and $3 billion in purchases of agriculture products, including meat, dairy and produce to ... Read More »
COVID-19 is bringing more stress and worry to the agriculture picture. If there is a positive in this, it is that demand for peanuts and peanut butter will increase as more people are eating at home. The easy-to-use, nutritious, go-to food makes an ideal meal or snack for families staying at home instead of sending the kids to school and ... Read More »
Loan Repayment Extension Producers now have more time to repay marketing assistance loans as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020. The loans now mature at 12 months rather than nine, and this flexibility is available for most commodities. The extension applies to nonrecourse loans for crop years ... Read More »
Never before has the U.S. peanut market been in such disarray with so many unusual circumstances as it is in 2020. The peanut market continues to rise with very thin trading volume. Prices for peanuts testing negative for aflatoxin are about 68 cents per pound for whole peanuts. Blanched material is priced in the mid-70s to low 80 cents per ... Read More »
Peanut production is forecast at 5.64 billion pounds for 2019, up 3% from 2018. Harvested area is expected to total 1.38 million acres, up 1% from 2018. The average yield is forecast at 4,080 pounds per acre, up 79 pounds from the 2018 average yield. Record yields were forecast in Florida and North Carolina. In the first week of January, ... Read More »
Last year’s University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Science Extension Peanut Butter Challenge was just getting started when Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle. As the communities dealt with the aftermath and UF/IFAS Extension offices became collection points for all varieties of donations, the annual peanut butter jar collection became less of a focus than the many items ... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation announced corrected 2019 crop loan rates. Loan rates published in June were incorrectly calculated. The 2014 Farm Bill established the national loan rate for peanuts at $355 per ton, which is unchanged from the previous Farm Bill. CCC calculated the price support levels for each peanut type using the same method as ... Read More »
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