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Summary

The value of a farmer’s peanut crop is determined by yield and grade of the peanuts, with the current market trend of depressed commodity prices maximizing both yield and grade is critical to maximizing profitability. The Mitchell County Extension Office conducts maturity clinics for peanut producers in the county to optimize the digging date of each individual fields. The agent helped growers make over 240 harvest decisions in 2020. Research indicates that farmers can be as much as 300 - 500 pounds per acre higher with proper harvest timing verse early or late harvest.

Situation

Mitchell County is a rural county in South Georgia that relies on agriculture and in 2018 ranked #1 in the state for peanut production. Mitchell County averages over 31,000 acres of peanuts each year with some year’s peanut acres top 40,000. This makes peanuts worth well over $32,000,000 in the Farmgate value of the county alone. Research conducted at the National Peanut Research Lab shows that digging three weeks too early can result in a 30 percent reduction in yields. Premature harvest also reduces the grade of the peanut. Therefore it is critical to dig peanuts when optimal maturity is reached to maximize both yield and grade resulting in maximum profit for the growers.

Response

Mitchell County Cooperative Extension offers peanut maturity clinics to producers in Mitchell and Decatur counties to help determine optimum harvest dates for their crop. Producers will take representative samples from 3-5 locations per field and bring them to the extension office. The peanuts are then picked off the vine to determine if peg strength is still good and then blasted with a pressure washer to remove the other layer of the hull. The inner layer is then compared to a profile board to determine relative maturity with respect to days until optimal maturity.

Impact

The Mitchell County Extension Agent, after assisting with over 240 harvest decisions helped growers comfortably make assessments on multiple locations for peanut maturity. With the research showing that a proper maturity prediction can increase yields by an average of 300 pounds per acre. Mitchell and Decatur Counties have a combined peanut acres of 78,058 in 2020, accurate maturity potentially increased production by over 23 million pounds with a monetary value of nearly 5 million dollars.

State Issue

Plant Production

Details

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

Author

  • Hayes, Brian W
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