By Brad Haire
University of Georgia

Georgia was expected to have a record-size peanut crop this
year. But hot, dry September weather and disease have taken a
toll on the crop, lowering expectations, says a University of
Georgia expert.

In early September, Georgia was expected to produce 2.3 billion
pounds of peanuts, 97 million pounds more than the record set in
1991, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.

The record production potential was spurred by an increase to
760,000 planted acres, 140,000 more than last year. Georgia
grows about half of all U.S. peanuts.

Georgia farmers were set to average 3,100 pounds per acre. But
this number will likely go down by the time harvest ends later
in November, says John Beasley, a UGA Cooperative Extension
peanut agronomist.

“The major reason for the significant drop-off in yield
potential is the hot, dry weather over the past few weeks,”
Beasley said.

Rainfall in September has been scarce to nonexistent across
south Georgia, where most peanuts are grown. The area usually
gets 3 to 4 inches in September, barring any tropical storms,
according to the UGA Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring
Network.

Farmers started harvesting a few weeks ago, Beasley said. But
much of the crop is still maturing in fields.

“A significant number of our acres were planted late,” he
said. “Those acres still need several weeks to mature. Weather
conditions over the next few weeks will dictate the yield
potential of those acres.”

Dry weather has hurt peanut quality, too, he said. It has kept
part of the crop from maturing and gaining weight normally.

“But we expect the grades to improve as the season progresses,”
Beasley said.

About half of Georgia’s peanut acres are irrigated, he said. But
farmers haven’t had to use it much this summer. Most of the
peanut-growing counties had above-average rainfall in June, July
and August.

“Many producers were able to park their irrigation systems
during the season because of the rainfall amounts,” he
said. “Those producers with irrigation have run it more over the
past few weeks than all season combined.”

Tomato spotted wilt virus, a deadly and yield-reducing peanut
disease, has hit the crop hard this year, he said, along with
other diseases.

“TSWV is the worse it has been since the late 1990s,” he said.
About 12 percent of the crop in 1997 was infected with TSWV,
costing $45 million in losses.