Richard L. Petcher
Regional Extension Agronimist
302A Byrne Street
Bay Minette, AL  36507
Telephone (251) 937-7176 or
928-0860/943-5611 ext. 2222
FAX (251) 937-7285
E-Mail: petchrl@auburn.edu.

News Letter October 2006

As of today October 16, 2006 the peanuts are approximately 50 to 60 % harvested and the cotton between 20 and 30 % picked.  Both crops have done amazingly well for having suffered the long drought.  Some areas were hit too hard and never recovered from the severe drought.  Much depended on when fields were planted, soil types and when the rains came. 

PEANUT MATURITY AND FROST CONCERNS

Dry soils and cool weather slow down the peanut maturing process.  According to Dr. Jay Williams one of the scientist who developed the Hull Scrape Method of determining when to dig peanuts, when night temperatures are in the upper 50’s peanuts will start to slow down in maturation.  When temperatures warm up maturation goes back to normal. 

Some of our late maturing varieties like C-99R, Georgia 02C and Georgia 01R may need as much time in the field as possible.  A rule of thumb is once we have at least three consecutive mornings with minimum temperatures in the low 40’s, the maturation process shuts down and will not reverse it.  Of course, a killing frost is of major concern.  Peanuts will usually tolerate temperatures as low as 28 to 32 degrees.  Peanuts that have been dug and have already dried down will usually not suffer from a killing frost.  Peanuts freshly dug and with moisture in the pods will suffer the most damage.  Usually the greener the peanuts the greater the damage.  Definitely do not dig just prior to a killing frost.  However, as soon as possible and the weather moderates after the frost dig your peanuts.  Peanuts left in the field for more than a few days will start to decay.  Peanuts damaged by frost are usually classified as Seg. 2 or rancid peanuts.  . 

U.S. 2006 PEANUT CROP ESTIMATE – Issued by USDA’s Ag Statistics Service from interviews with farmers on October 1, 2006.

2006 PEANUT CROP ESTIMATE - Production is forecast at 3.27 billion pounds, (1,633,300 tons) down 33 percent from last year's crop but up 2 percent from last month.  Area for harvest is expected to total 1.21 million acres, unchanged from September but down 26 percent from last year.  Yields are expected to average 2,693 pounds per acre, up 53 pounds from last month but down 296 pounds from 2005.

SOUTHEAST PEANUTS -   Production in the Southeast States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina) is expected to total 2.26 billion pounds, (1,130,950 tons) up 1 percent from August, but down 33 percent from last year's level.  Expected acreage for harvest, at 924,000, is unchanged from September but down 23 percent from 2005.  Yields in the region are expected to average 2,448 pounds per acre, 32 pounds above last month but 360 pounds below 2005.  As of October 1, peanut harvest was 6 percent complete in Alabama, 15 percent complete in Florida, and 12 percent complete in Georgia.  Alabama and Florida lagged their 5-year averages by at least 30 percentage points, while Georgia lagged its 5-year average by 18 percentage points.  Peanut harvest in South Carolina, at 24 percent complete, was closer to normal but still lagged its 5-year average by 5 percentage points. 

WHEAT AND OAT PRODUCTION FOR GRAIN

Wheat acres are doubling and even tripling in Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi.  I predict they will almost double in Southwest Al.  The two best ways to spread your risk on grain production are to plant on two different planting dates and to plant several different varieties.

PLANTING DATES: 

Plant in September if you plan to graze.  Or plant October 15 through December 15th if you are going for grain only.  Planting November 15 to December 1 would be optimum.  Planting too early brings on Hessian fly problem and can give you too much top growth and lush vegetation for winter kill injury.  Planting later than December 15 does not give the wheat enough time for good establishment and full opportunity for growth and proper tillering before heading out.  Oats are a little more cold sensitive.  Their best planting dates would be October 15-November 15.  Planting too early or too late of both wheat and oats can greatly damage their yield potential.  One of the best ways to spread out your risk in small grain production is to plant on two different planting dates.  This gives you an edge on the weather patterns. 

VARIETIES:

Planting the very best variety for our area is one of the best ways to up your yields. 

The top ten oat varieties in order that they placed in South Al. on farm tests are: Horizon 321, Secretariat, Trophy (was not in test, however it is the new LSU release to replace Secretariat), Harrison, Chapman, Horizon 474, Citation, Coker 227, Florida 501 and Georgia Mitchell.  Since Auburn University does not have a grain agronomist I leaned heavily on Dr. Erick Larson, MS State Grain Specialist.  His top wheat recommended varieties for South Al. are: LA 841, Delta King GR9108, Pioneer 26R61, and Agri Pro Coker 9553.  These varieties are resistant to Yellow Stripped Rust which has been a major disease in both Mississippi and Georgia.  Some other varieties that are recommended for this area are AGS 2000 (not YSR resistant), AGS 2010, USG 3209 and Fleming (not YSR resistant).  For planting late USG 3209, AGS 2010 and Fleming do well.  For very late go with Fleming.  As of today October 16th, many of these varieties are impossible to find.  Most of the seed dealers tell me they have plenty of wheat and oat seed available, but it would be best to book your seed soon.     

It would be best for you to know the characteristics of each before selecting.  For example planting a very early variety at the regular planting date may expose it to injury by early spring frost.  Also you may want to plant particular varieties for earlier harvest for double cropping soybeans or cotton.  Knowing the Characteristics of each variety is very important.  The climatic conditions have a great affect upon the yield of these varieties.  As the weather changes each year, so does the yield of these varieties.  The fact that a certain variety yields the best one year, does not necessarily mean it will bring top yields the next.  If you are planting 100 acres or more it would be best to plant three different varieties.  This is one of the best ways to spread out your risk.  Do not let the cost of the seed be your reason for selecting a variety.  Saving a few hundred dollars up front may cost you thousands of dollars on the harvest end.  Pick the best varieties available not the cheapest.   

DEEP TILLAGE:  Small grains respond to deep tillage.  This is especially important if the winter is too wet or the spring is too dry during the grain fill period.  Preparing a good seedbed by deep tillage will usually result in 18-20 bushels yield increase over just disking.  It is important to disc first and then chisel plow.  Disking after deep tillage recompacts the soil and essentially negates the positive effects of the deep tillage trip.

WHEAT AND OATS FOR GRAIN AND STRAW

One of the best ways to grow more grain and straw is to increase fall tillering.  Twenty to thirty units of Nitrogen applied in the fall will stimulate your wheat and oat plants to produce more tillers that will give you more final grain and straw. 

In the July News letter I wrote about two new oat varieties.  They are excellent varieties, but I made an error in who released them.   Trophy was not released by University of Florida and Georgia.  The plant breeder of Trophy is Dr. Steve Harrison with LSU.  He also released the Horizon 270 oat which is being marketed by Plantation Seed in Newton, Georgia. TAMO 405 was released by Dr. Rex Herrington at Texas A&M University instead of being an LSU release.  These are excellent oats to plant for grain or forage.   I would like to apologize to you and these men for my errors.   

SOYBEAN RUST was detected in Geneva and Autauga Counties in early October.  These are the first reports of rust on soybeans outside of Baldwin County this year.  The disease was discovered in two commercial soybean fields in Baldwin County on September 27.  For the most part Alabama soybean growers escaped the rust this year. 

WEB SITES FOR INFORMATION

This web site includes archives of my past news letters, variety tests, crop information, the IPM Pest Management Handbook and crop publications.  I would like to thank Sandra Walton at the Baldwin County Extension Office for her diligence in compiling this information for the growers in this region. 

http://www.aces.edu/counties/Baldwin/pages/Richard.tmpl

This past June 2006 Dr. Charles C. Mitchell, Extension Agronomist-Soils & Professor, and Jorge Mosjidis, Professor, Agronomy & Soils prepared a Timely Information titled                                      Grow Your Own N: Legumes in Row Crop Systems.

If you have internet access you can use the link above.  At the top of the page go to publications and then timely information and then the agronomy series.  If you do not have internet and would like this article call your local extension office and they can print you a copy of the entire article.

Again, I hope this information is helpful to you.

Richard L. Petcher

Regional Extension Agent

ALABAMA A&M AND AUBURN UNIVERSITIES, AND TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY, COUNTY GOVERNING BODIES AND USDA COOPERATING

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