Peanut production sets new records in 2011

By John M. Ayers

When you ride along the rural country roads in Gilchrist County, nearly every other mile the traveler will come upon a peanut field, some as small as 40 acres and some covering hundreds of acres. Gilchrist County Extension Director Marvin Weaver reported the peanut production in Gilchrist appears to have reached an all time high with an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 acres under cultivation in the 2011 crop season. The Gilchrist and Levy Extension Directors work in cooperation with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences. Levy County Extension Director Anthony Drew reported the volume of peanut acreage in Levy is estimated at 24,000 acres in 2011. Peanuts have also become a bigger production crop in Dixie County as acreage is estimated to be at 4,000 acres. Many of the larger producers in the Tri-County area have begun to work in cooperation with one another to get their acreage harvested at the optimal time.

The Gilchrist Extension Director reported that peanuts are produced and sold by contract in tons and also on the open market. The number of acres of peanuts produced under contract was determined beginning in December 2010 and continued up until the acreage was planted in late March 2011. Before the farmers plant the crop, they enter into and sign a contract to produce peanuts based on a fixed price of, for example $500.00 per ton. This is a good price, Weaver explained; but many farmers will also sell some of their crop on the open market. In 2011, the price of peanuts has risen to above $1,000 a ton. The price for contract peanuts is estimated to be $550.00 per ton.
The Extension Directors working with agriculture producers in the Tri-County area report the drought conditions in West Florida, Georgia and other southern states influenced producers to reduce their acreage of peanuts and increase the acreage to cotton. The Extension service reports that cotton is a crop that produces better than peanuts in drought conditions. Peanut acreage in South Georgia is reported to be down by as much as 20% and cotton acreage is up in these same areas by that estimate.
Weaver and Anthony Drew both report the conditions for producing peanuts in the Tri-County area in 2011 could have been better, “If we had received wetter conditions when the fields were beginning to set their yields in the beginning of the summer,” Weaver explained. The Extension Service estimates that 75% of the peanut acreage in Gilchrist County is cultivated under irrigation. The fields that were irrigated are estimated to have produced over 4,000 pounds per acre. Peanuts on an average in Gilchrist County are estimated to have produced 3,200 pounds to the acre. “There are some producers that exceeded this estimate, but this is an average,” Weaver explained. Anthony Drew reported some of the best production was in Levy County where over 5,000 pounds per acre were reported. Weaver also pointed out that 80% of the peanuts were planted through the no till cultivation practice.
The peanuts that have produced the best in the Tri-County area range from Virginia runner type peanuts to Georgia 06, Tiff Guard and Florida 07. The Virginia type product brings the highest quality product, which is often used for parching and salted in the shell. “These are the larger type peanuts that are sold for consumption at a ball park,” he added. The smaller varieties are used in the production of candy. The peanuts which are of a more general variety are used for oils and other types of products.