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Peanut farmers are making their final rounds on the field this year to get the peanut crop planted.
This week we were at 72% nationwide. Georgia’s showing 82 to 85% of their crop is planted. Alabama’s about 71.
They should be at 76 as the five-year average, so a little bit behind. Florida’s finishing up with 82 to 85% of their peanuts are in the ground.
Just some late plantings, but still needing some soil moisture in certain areas to get planted. This past week, most operations were working around the rains to round out their last planting and spray fields for weed control, which is really sprouting out with these late showers. Approximately 80% of acres have been planted in South Carolina.
Conditions ahead appear favorite to finish the majority of the planting and manage the fields from here on out. Overall, USDA is saying the average increase on acreage would be about 14 to 15%. Others are thinking it might be more than that.
Some estimate that it would be a 20% decline in the number of acres being planted across the peanuts. But we will have to wait until the estimate on June 30th and find out exactly what USDA is reporting and estimating for peanut acreage next year.
Audio Reporting by Tyron Spearman for Southeast AgNet.