Peanuts: Planting starts in Southeast with lower moisture and higher seed costs

Peanuts just coming up. These Tifguard peanuts were photographed Thursday in Seminole County, Georgia. Photo Courtesy Rome Ethredge, Seminole County Extension Coordinator

Peanuts:

Planting starts in Southeast with lower moisture and higher seed costs

By Owen Taylor

AgFax Staff

May 10, 2008 - Peanut planting for 2008 in the Southeast has started on a broader basis. It should pick up steam in the new week as the region approaches the mid-May recommended starting point in the tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) management index.

Conditions in a wide part of the region are somewhat dry.

“We’re having to irrigate to do about anything,” said Rome Ethredge, Seminole County (Georgia) Extension Coordinator in his weekly e-letter. “The gators are on the move to try to find other wet holes as many are drying up.”

John Beasley, Georgia Extension Peanut Specialist, wrote in an advisory this week that it “looks as if we are into another dry May. It is not as bad as last year, but it is getting drier by the day.”

The difference between 2007 and 2008, he added, is better winter rainfall this year, which built better subsoil moisture than growers had going into the 2007 planting period.

Jay Chapin, South Carolina Extension Specialist, said Thursday that peanut planting in his state was “rolling in places,” but parts of the state need rain.

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“We’ve got moisture at least from the lakes north, and people are trying to take advantage of it, especially where they’ve got large acreage to cover,” Chapin said. “We’ll probably see even more planting start this weekend and early next week. In the south part of the state, it’s drier. Some folks have switched off planting cotton to take advantage of moisture they still have. We can always plant peanuts deeper to reach moisture, so they’ll resume peanut planting when they get some more cotton planted.”

David Wright, Florida Extension Agronomist in Quincy, reported that "a few people have started planting. I would expect that between this weekend and next weekend that everybody will be out planting if they expect to grow peanuts this year. Our recommended starting date within the tomato spotted wilt virus index is May 11, and that’s Sunday.”

Georgia’s Beasley cautioned against planting too deep if rainfall fails to develop right away.

“As we go longer without adequate rainfall and the moisture level in the top 3 inches of the soil is depleted, there is a temptation to plant seed deeper,” Beasley said. “Our planting depth recommendation is to plant seed 2 to 2.5 inches deep. Planting shallower or deeper can result in erratic emergence. If seed are too shallow, the soil dries out quicker. If there is a light rainfall event that wets the soil just to the seed level, then it may initiate the germination process, but not have enough moisture to complete the process. This can happen when planted less than 2 inches deep.”

Planting deeper than 2.5 inches - especially if planted 3 or more inches deep to "chase moisture” - can result in delayed and staggered emergence, he added.

“In order to reduce TSWV risk, we need uniform emergence,” Beasley said. “The deeper we plant, the more erratic emergence becomes. We may end up with an adequate plant stand of four or more plants per foot of row but if the emergence was delayed, and/or erratic, then TSWV can become a problem. Now that we are in the month of May and the soil temperature is warm enough for planting, producers need to go ahead and plant if there is adequate moisture in the top three inches of soil to trigger rapid germination and quick emergence.”

In his advisory, Beasley also cautioned against cutting seed rates to alleviate the “sticker shock” of higher seed prices. Seed prices are running in the 85 cent/pound range or more this season, compared to 55 to 60 cents last year, Beasley noted.

Cutting rates to stretch seed supplies is risky, he emphasized.

“Keep in mind that TSWV is still a very real and legitimate threat, despite low levels the past 2 years,” he said. “We still recommend planting 6 seed per foot of row in the single row pattern and 3 seed per foot of row in each twin row in the twin row pattern. Where we are hearing concerns is in the large-seeded runner cultivars.”

Large-seeded runners include C-99R, Florida-07, Georgia-06G, and Tifguard, he said

Beasley included the following points and recommendations:

At last year’s seed prices ($0.60 as an example), that would have cost the grower $84 per acre in seed cost.
At this year’s seed price ($0.90) that would cost the producer $126 per acre.
That is a 50% increase in seed cost per acre from last year to this year.
Regardless of seed size, seed cost per acre for any cultivar - small or large seeded - is going to be up 50% over last year.
"Data from our research trials indicate reducing seeding rate can lead to lower yield. IF a producer is considering, or insistent, on reducing their seeding rate to lower seed cost, by all means do not drop below 5 seed per foot of row on single rows and 2.5 seed per foot of row on twin rows. Try to remain between 5 and 6 seed per foot of row (2.5 to 3 on twin rows)."