A steady stream of new peanut varieties is flowing from breeding programs across the peanut belt. Newly released varieties will be superior to previously available cultivars in one or more desirable characteristics. Growers have always wanted varieties that produce high yields and grades while exhibiting good disease resistance. Industry’s increasing demand for peanuts with the high oleic character has led to the release of a number of varieties exhibiting this important attribute. The high oleic character provides longer shelf life for the peanut seed.
Several high oleic character have been released in Oklahoma. They represent three (Spanish, runner, and Virginia) of the four market types of peanuts grown in the U.S. Following are descriptions for these varieties.
Runner - Lariat
Lariat is a high-oleic runner-type peanut with enhanced Sclerotinia blight resistance when compared to the cultivar Red River Runner. Lariat was released cooperatively by the USDA-ARS and the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station (OAES) in 2016. In advanced line disease trials conducted over five years, Lariat averaged only 12% incidence of Sclerotinia blight, whereas Red River Runner averaged 20% and the susceptible runner-type check Florida-07 averaged 47%. Furthermore, Lariat does not exhibit a yield boost or significant reduction in disease incidence upon fungicide application, as does Red River Runner. Thus, Lariat is greatly enhanced in resistance to Sclerotinia blight when compared to Red River Runner and will not require fungicide application to increase yields. Results from Oklahoma state variety trials demonstrate that Lariat is indistinguishable from Red River Runner with regards to yield and grade, thus maintaining those highly desirable traits. Production of Lariat in fields where Sclerotinia blight is present will increase profits for the grower by $200-$500/ha.
Spanish - Olé
Olé was developed in a collaborative effort between the USDA-ARS Wheat, Peanut, and Other Field Crops Research Unit, Stillater, OK and Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. The developers were: K.D. CHAMBERLIN*, R.S. BENNETT, H.A. MELOUK, USDA-ARS, Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research Unit; J. P. DAMICONE, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathlogy, and C. B. GODSEY, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University.
OLé is a high oleic Spanish-type peanut that has excellent yield and enhanced Sclerotinia blight and pod rot resistance when compared to other high oleic Spanish cultivars. The purpose for releasing OLé is to provide peanut producers with a true Spanish peanut that is high oleic and has enhanced yield, grade and disease resistance compared to other high oleic Spanish varieties. OLé (tested as ARSOK-S140-1OL) is the product of a Tamspan 90 X F435 (original donor of the high O/L gene). F1 seed were grown out in 2001 and F2 generation seed were space planted in 2002 in plots at the OAES Experiment station at Ft. Cobb, OK. Single plant selections were made from F3 plots to become individual F4 breeding lines. F4-5 breeding lines were evaluated for disease resistance and agronomic performance in 2006-2007. OLé was identified in 2007 as exceptional due to its low incidence of Sclerotinia blight and high yield. Early bulk seed selection of OLé was made from healthy and Sclerotinia-free plants grown at Ft. Cobb, OK, in 2007. Seed increase of the selection as well as testing of agronomic performance was performed in 2008-2013 at several Oklahoma locations. Seed increases were also conducted at the Puerto Rico Winter Nursery. OLé was identified as exceptional due to its potential for low incidence of Sclerotinia blight and pod rot and excellent yield compared to available high oleic Spanish cultivars. In agronomic performance tests conducted from 2007- 2013 in Oklahoma, OLé averaged 48% less incidence of Sclerotinia blight and 75% less pod rot than other Spanish cultivars tested. OLé averages a yield of 500 – 1000 lbs more per acre and a crop value of $83 – $175 more per acre than other Spanish cultivars. OLé is high oleic (O/L = 20:1) and has a nutritional and flavor profile similar to that of other Spanish cultivars. OLé is a true Spanish peanut cultivar with an erect growth habit. OLé seed typically matures at 120 days after planting under Oklahoma growing conditions. Seed size of OLé is typical of Spanish cultivars with seed weight/100 averaging 47.6 g. OLé seed typically grade similar to other Spanish cultivars but have averaged 1-3 points higher depending upon location and year. The release of OLé peanut will offer producers in the US Southern Plains a true Spanish peanut with an exceptional disease resistance and yield package. The production of OLé will increase their profit margin by an average of $130 per acre, potentially increasing the economy by
$7 M annually.
Virginias - Contender
‘Contender’ is a large-seeded high-oleic virginia-type that has enhanced pod size distribution and seed size when compared to the virginia type cultivar VENUS. Released jointly by the USDA ARS and Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station in 2018, Contender is the result of a cross between the high-oleic virginia cultivar Brantley and high-oleic runner cultivar Red River Runner. Contender had an average pod yield of 5773 lb./A, a grade of 69, 55% ELK, and 76% total fancy pods, giving it the highest estimated value for the producer among the virginia-type cultivars tested in Oklahoma Variety Trials for 2016-2017. Contender is moderately resistant to Sclerotinia blight and pod rot when compared to Jupiter.
Virginias - Comrade
‘Comrade’ is a high oleic virginia cultivar developed and released jointly by ARS and North Carolina State University. In the 2020 Oklahoma Variety Trials, across location, Comrade had an average yield of 5640 lb./A, 74% ELK, a grade of 68, and 94% total fancy pods. Comrade was released due to it’s enhanced percent super jumbo pods. Compared to currently grown cultivars Jupiter and ACI351, Comrade has a significant increase in % super-jumbo pods (47%) compared to currently grown cultivars Jupiter (20%) and ACI351 (42%). In 2018-19, Comrade was significantly more resistant to pod rot (18%) than Jupiter (43%) and ACI351 (28%), but was similar to these two cultivars in yield, grade, and potential value.