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Alabama's
Peanut Farmers Busy Planting
AUBURN, May 3---The
state's peanut farmers are busy right now planting their 2001 crop.
But farmers, particularly in the Wiregrass, would really like a good
rain.
The Wiregrass, the
state's primary production area for peanuts, is dry. Dallas Hartzog,
an agronomist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System at the
Wiregrass Regional Research and Extension Center in Headland, says
April was dry after good rainfall amounts in late winter.
"In many fields,
soil moisture is the limiting factor," says Hartzog. "Some
farmers are picking and choosing which fields to plant — selecting
those with better soil moisture to plant first. Others are delaying
planting in hopes of a rain."
The sandy soil of the
Wiregrass will hold about a two-week supply of moisture in the
spring and summer. Heavier soils in other parts of the state have
greater moisture retaining capabilities.
Hartzog points out that
it is the light, sandy soil of the region that makes it so well
suited to growing peanuts.
Henry County Extension
agent Jimmy Jones says most of the farmers in his county need rain
on their fields to assure proper seed germination.
"They're planting
peanuts as deep as about 2 inches to get the seed into a zone of
moisture," says Jones.
Just a few years ago,
farmers would have planted peanuts as soon as early April. Now,
Hartzog says, most delay planting until May 1.
"Tomato spotted
wilt (TSW) virus is devastating to peanuts," say Hartzog.
"We've found we can avoid TSW to some extent by delaying
planting until May."
But that means farmers
cannot afford to delay planting very long for lack of rainfall.
"Some growers may
try to wait it out and plant when there's some rain," says
Hartzog. "But they're battling a crop insurance deadline of May
25." To be eligible, insured acres must be planted on or before
May 25.
But crop insurance is
not the growers' only worry. Jones add that another problem is high
fuel costs.
"We're paying
double the price for fuel that we paid at the same time last
spring," says Jones. "Farmers are getting their profits
squeezed before they even get their fields planted."
There are other concerns
as well. Herbicides applied at planting need soil moisture to
activate and control weeds. Dry weather allows weeds to get a head
start on young peanut plants.
Peanuts will not
germinate uniformly in a dry field, making the young plants more
vulnerable to TSW virus for which there is no effective control
method. The dry weather also will leave peanut seedlings vulnerable
to a variety of seedling diseases that can wipe out a field.
Finally, peanuts that
emerge as poor or spotty stands often do not produce the same yields
as those from healthy, uniform stands. That will cost the farmer
money at the end of the season when there is less product to take to
market.
Peanut acreage in the
state has hovered around 200,000 acres for the last several years.
Houston County leads the state in peanut production, followed by
Geneva, Henry, Coffee, Baldwin and Covington counties.
Last year, Alabama
peanut farmers harvested just over 271 million pounds of peanuts
valued at $72 million. Last year's drought reduced the yield
substantially from 1999, when more than 448 million pounds valued at
$126 million were harvested.
Nationally, the state
trails only Georgia and Texas in peanut production.
SOURCE: Dr. Dallas
Hartzog, Extension Agronomist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System,
(334) 693-2010 and Jimmy Jones, Extension Agent, Henry County Office
(334) 585-6416
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