Peanut Farmers Hopeful

Auburn, Aug. 19, 2003 --- About 30 farmers piled out of their trucks in a drizzling rain to look over new varieties at the recent Coffee-Geneva County Extension Peanut Field Day in New Brockton.

Dallas Hartzog, a peanut agronomist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, watched the group and commented that rain ensured a good turnout.

“If it had been sunny, we probably wouldn’t have had any farmers,” said Hartzog.

“Farmers are behind on spraying for leaf spot and other diseases because of the rainy summer. Plain and simple, if the sun were shining, these guys would be in the fields.”

Coffee County peanut producer Carl Sanders agreed with Hartzog.

“It’s hard to complain too much about the wet summer after so many recent dry ones,” Sanders said. “We would rather have to manage problems such as leaf spot because the potential is there for a good crop. In very dry years, that potential just is not there.”

Jimmy Helms, a long-time producer in Geneva County, agreed the potential is there, but he does have his concerns about the abundant rain.

“My peanut vines look very good, but I am afraid the crop may not be as good as we hope,” said Helms. “I’m concerned that we have had just too much rain.”

Peanuts are vulnerable to fungal diseases, particularly leaf spot. Rains that splatter soil onto peanut leaves set up the potential for leaf spot problems.

Austin Hagan, an Extension plant pathologist, told farmers that leaf spot is widespread in Alabama’s peanut belt with warm, wet weather fostering its spread.

“We’re in a critical time right now,” Hagan said. “With wet soils, aerial application may be the best option for farmers to get timely applications of fungicides on their crop.”

He also said farmers might consider using four-wheel all-terrain vehicles to tow spray rigs.

“We have used this type rig at the Gulf Coast Regional Research and Extension Center,” Hagan said. “They were the only way we could get some of our test plots sprayed because of the boggy, muddy conditions in the fields.”

Hartzog added that if leaf spot gets out of control, farmers will have to harvest the crop before optimum maturity, which will severely affect both yield and grade.

The Coffee-Geneva County Extension Peanut Field Day is a yearly event designed to highlight new varieties as well as allow producers to hear the latest research news from Extension professionals.

Geneva County Extension Agent Richard Petcher organized the on-farm variety trials that were part of the field day.

“Farmers need to be able to see new varieties growing in a farm situation besides looking at research plots,” said Petcher. “We think these farm demonstrations with Extension agronomists providing commentary on the varieties really help our peanut producers make better variety selections in the future.”

Mary Baltikauski, Geneva County Extension coordinator, agreed with Petcher.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for our producers to talk with Extension specialists and researchers about the future as well as see how new varieties and production practices work in real farm situations.”

More than 180,000 acres of peanuts are planted across southern Alabama. While the bulk of the Alabama crop is in the Wiregrass, peanut acreage has been increasing in other southern counties. Peanut acres in Baldwin, Dallas, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and Washington counties account for 25 percent of total acres planted this year.

Overall, peanut acreage is down five percent from 2002 when 190,000 acres were planted.

Alabama is third in peanut production nationally, trailing Georgia and Texas. About two-thirds of the peanuts harvested in the state will wind up on grocery store shelves as peanut butter.

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