The National Ag Service is reporting from USDA this week that the peanut crop is 1% very poor, 6% poor, 29 fair, 56 good, and 8 excellent.
The peanuts pegging now are about 94 to 95% across the board and the crop is being made. But we’ve got problems in some areas. For more than three weeks now, Georgia growers have experienced moderate to extreme heat.
That’s the same thing in Alabama and Florida with only scattered rainfall. These conditions, according to the peanut specialists, are taking a toll on many non-irrigated fields. Recent rains have helped, but many areas are still struggling and have been missed.
If these hot, dry conditions continue for several more weeks, it may become necessary to assess each field yield potential before investing any additional resources on those peanuts. We are hopeful that weather conditions will improve and that many affected areas will recover, but right now the drought has taken its toll on the dry land crop. Georgia is about 50% irrigated and 50% is dry land, so a major portion of the crop is under threat.
That’s an update on the crop.
Audio Reporting by Tyron Spearman for Southeast AgNet.