If a current forecast holds true, Georgia farmers will produce
more peanuts this year than last year. Considering drought has
dominated the state for three straight years, the crop this
season
has turned into a pleasant surprise.

According to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service, peanut
production for Georgia is forecast at 1.42 billion pounds. This
is 8 percent more than an earlier prediction for the state,
and 1 percent better than the crop last year.

“I was quite surprised that the estimate jumped that
much,”
said John Beasley, a University of Georgia Extension Service
agronomist.

2,800 Pounds per Acre

Farmers are expected to yield about 2,800 pounds per acre. This
is 200 pounds more than last month’s forecast and 225 pounds
more
than the 1999 yield.

Looking back over the growing season, Beasley said this type of
production year seemed unbelievable.

“Considering the way this year started out with drought and
all the problems we were having and even though we got timely
rains in August and September, we were still way behind on
rainfall,”
Beasley said.

Problems, Problems

Growers not only battled weather this season. They also had to
deal with weed pressure, the plant-crippling Tomato Spotted Wilt
Virus and other yield-reducing diseases.

Though the timely rains kept the crop from going downhill for
many growers, Beasley said, some farmers were not able to combat
the extreme weather and had to abandon some fields.

“But overall, as we continued through harvest it seemed
everybody
was pleased with their total production,” he said. “And
the quality (of the crop) has been excellent. We’re a lot better
than average on quality this year.”

Finally, Good Weather

Weather conditions favored the farmers getting into their fields
and getting out the crop.

“Harvest conditions were excellent: clear, breezy and with
low humidity,” he said. September rains hurt some peanuts
ready for harvest, but for the most part, improved the peanuts
still maturing.

“We’d love to get back to the 3,200 (pounds per acre)
we made in 1985. But if you told the farmers at the start of this
season that with the drought and all the problems we were having
we’d be making 2,800 (pounds per acre), they’d have thought you
were crazy,” Beasley said. “It was a surprisingly good year.”