By Clint Thompson
Georgia’s peanut crop was on display during last week’s Georgia Peanut Tour, hosted by the Georgia Peanut Commission. The two-day field tour also allowed Scott Monfort, University of Georgia Extension peanut agronomist, an opportunity to discuss the current state of this year’s crop as harvests have started across the region.
“The crop that was planted in April and first week of May looks on track. We’ve got a lot of dryland problems. We made a crop and then went through a drought. Then we got all of this water. A lot of those plants gave up, and we’re encouraging growers to go after those a little early, make sure we don’t lose that crop,” Monfort said. “This (crop) that was planted in mid-May and later, we don’t have a good grasp on that yet. We need the moisture that we got now, and it was (in the 80s) the rest of (last) week. That’s a good amount of heat. We just need to keep that. If we can do that, we can keep this crop moving forward.
“We’re pretty wet in most of the area. We need to get the first part of this crop out, get it on the ground and see if we can get it harvested.”
Expected Lull in Harvests
The excessive rains last May prevented much of the plantings to be delayed. Growers could not access the fields to plant the crop in a normal timeframe. Those peanuts are not expected to be harvested until later this harvest season, creating a potential extensive lull.
“It all has to depend on the weather. I think two weeks, a week and a half. I’m not talking about everybody will have to stop but we’re going to have places that were held out three or four weeks from planting in May. Some of those are going to have to wait,” Monfort said. “We are going to see a little bit of a lull at the buying point to get these peanuts in.
“If I’m a grower, I’m going to make sure that my crop is as matured out as possible. That’s going to be the key this year.”