The $430 million Georgia peanut crop is doing well in some
fields and poorly in others,
say University of Georgia experts.

"How well the peanut crop is doing depends entirely on
where the rain fell,"
said John Beasley, an Extension Service agronomist with the UGA
College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences.

"Some farmers report their peanut fields are in good
shape," he said.
"Others say their vines are drying up before they get
started good."

Killer Virus Damage Spotty,
Too

But it’s not just spotty rain that has Georgia’s peanut crop
conditions so mixed.
Tomato spotted wilt virus is affecting the crop, too.

Many Georgia farmers are learning how to keep spotted wilt
from infecting their plants.

Albert Culbreath, a UGA plant pathologist, said in the
fields he’s seen, the farmer did
everything he could to minimize the risk of spotted wilt, which
cost Georgia growers $40
million in 1997.

"Those risk-reducing factors are holding up, especially
when several factors are
used in combination," he said.

Learning to Stop Spotted
Wilt

Culbreath said the best fields were planted in early to
mid-May with resistant
varieties like Georgia Green and a high number of plants per
foot. He’s seen a huge
difference in infection rates between those fields and others
planted in early April. He
said several UGA test plots planted in early April have been
hit hard by spotted wilt.

But even if they planted resistant varieties at the right
time and at the right rates,
this dry weather doesn’t help the plants get off to a good
start, Beasley said. And that
can make them a little more vulnerable to the disease.

"Getting a good start is a very important factor for
reducing spotted wilt,"
Culbreath said. "Stand problems early in the season can
result in greater problems
with spotted wilt later."

Rain Still
Needed

Georgia farmers reported about three-quarters of their
peanut crop in fair or good
condition as of June 18. Beasley said that’s about the same as
last year at this time.

Most peanut fields were planted during the first three weeks
of May. Those plants are
blooming and forming pegs now. The pegs should penetrate the
soil around the plant and
eventually grow into peanuts.

"We need about an inch-and-a-half to 2 inches of rain
every week from now through
late August," Beasley said. But that very rarely happens.
Even in irrigated fields –
about 40 percent of the crop — farmers are hard-pressed to get
enough water on the crop.

But if the plants don’t get enough water or are infected
with spotted wilt, they may
not be healthy enough to support blooms, pegs or the growing
peanuts.

Thrips Carry Spotted
Wilt

"In a lot of fields, we’re seeing plants that are just
dying from early
infection," Beasley said.

Tiny insects called thrips carry the virus from plant to
plant in fields. One UGA
scientist estimates spotted wilt can live in more than 1,000
plants — weeds included.

The earlier the virus infects the plants, the more severe
the problem. The
earliest-infected plants will probably die before they mature,
Beasley said.
Later-infected plants probably won’t die, but won’t produce as
much of a crop as a healthy
plant.

Farmers can’t do anything to cure plants already
infected.