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Summary

Determining when to dig peanuts can cost farmers significant yield and quality. Terrell County Extension offers Peanut Maturity Clinics to help farmers identify which fields they need to dig in what order. This increases their yields and makes their operation more efficient as well as sustainable.

Situation

Georgia is the largest peanut producing state in the world. Peanuts are indeterminate crops which mean that they are constantly setting fruit. Properly timing the harvest of peanuts determines whether the farmer is profitable or not. Terrell County Extension hosts peanut maturity clinics every fall to help farmers determine the optimal digging dates for peanuts, and thereby saves farmers across the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential lost peanuts.

Response

In the late winter or early spring of each year, Terrell County Extension hosts commodity production meetings, including one for peanuts. Specialists come from UGA to speak to local growers and give them the most up to date research and information on crops grown in Terrell County. These programs help producers with weed management, varietal selection, disease detection/prevention, and proper resistance management for the pesticides we utilize to manage peanut production. As the end of the growing season approaches, Terrell County hosts peanut maturity clinics to aid farmers in determining the optimal time to dig peanuts so that higher yields and better grades can be obtained. This year, Terrell County Ag agents have assisted over 30 farmers/ consultants to test over 100 samples that represent over 6,000 acres of peanuts. That is half of the total peanut crop in Terrell County this year.

Impact

Education and outreach are both vital functions of Extension. Terrell County farmers have to dig peanuts during a very narrow window to reach maximum yield potential and maintain good quality. Offering peanut maturity clinics to our farmers both educates farmers on when to dig their peanuts and is also a valuable outreach to maintain a relationship with the farmers and to reaffirm our value to the community. Digging peanuts two weeks early can cost farmers 744 pounds of peanuts per acre. On the flip side, digging peanuts two weeks late can cost farmers 1,746 pounds of peanuts according to our peanut specialist, Scott Monfort. Assuming the worst-case scenario that all 6,000 acres of peanuts in Terrell County that extension agents ran samples for were dug two weeks late, which would be a whopping 10,476,000 pounds of peanut yield lost, farmers would stand to lose $2,095,200 in revenue with peanuts valued around $400/ton. Therefore, this one service offered by our office effectively justifies our entire office’s salary and budget-and then some each peanut season.

State Issue

Plant Production

Details

  • Year: 2020
  • Geographic Scope: County
  • County: Terrell
  • Location: College Station, Athens
  • Program Areas:
    • Agriculture & Natural Resources

Author

  • McAllister, Seth Thomas
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Extension Impact

When to Dig Peanuts

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