Peanut Maturity Clinics in Berrien County - Our Impact

Summary

Peanut maturity clinics were held in Berrien County at 4 separate locations and also on an 'as-needed' basis. The county agent worked with 65 farmers to check 380 samples during the 2020 growing season. By helping farmers not dig too early, the county agent helped prevent over $4 million in yield loss.

Situation

Berrien County typically grows about 19,000 acres of peanuts with an economic value over $17 million. The exact date when peanuts should be dug has been a question farmers want answered for some time now, due to their indeterminate growth habit and difficulty being able to tell a peanut pods maturity. Due to this, peanut hull scraping, or ‘blasting’, is an important tool that has been developed to allow extension agents help growers decide on a more accurate date to dig peanuts.

Response

The county agent coordinated clinics to be held at four separate locations during the peanut growing season. These clinics occurred every week through September and October. The county agent also checked peanuts on an ‘on call’ basis, by meeting with the farmer one on one if their schedule did not fit with the clinics. Peanuts were checked by taking 220-250 peanuts and using a pressure washer to ‘blast’ the outer hull off. Immature peanuts will be a yellow color and will progress to black as they mature. Cooperative Extension has developed a peanut board that helps county agents sort these peanuts and determine the correct digging date (by looking at how these peanuts are progressing from yellow to black in color). Other factors such as peanut oil development, vine condition and future weather patterns also play a role in helping make digging recommendations.

Impact

During the 2020 growing season the Berrien County Agent checked 380 peanut samples for maturity. The Berrien County Agent checked samples brought to him by 65 local farmers and consultants. According to the National Peanut Research Lab, a 30% yield loss may occur if peanuts are dug three weeks too early. At the county yield of 4,200 pounds an acre, this yield loss can be up to 1,260 pounds. Given a $0.20 price per pound, this results in a loss of $267 an acre. Across the 19,000 acres that are typically planted in Berrien County, this would be a loss of close to 24 million pounds and a loss of over $4.7 million.