August 10, 2023
Despite high temperatures most fields look good. Once the heat dome settled in and the rain stopped the irrigation started and fields continue to look good. The USDA-ARS plots look good at Hydro and at the Caddo Research Station near Fort Cobb.
Photos: Left - Merlin Schantz holds some Valencia peanuts from the test plot on one of his fields near Hydro. Right - Close up photo of the Valencias showing the bright red Valencia skin color.
August 31, 2023
Many growers have been spraying for two-spotted spider mites over the past several weeks. Several products are labeled for the control of spider mites and are effective. Although you may only see a couple of areas that look dry in your field, spider mites start at the bottom of the plant and work their way up - so usually the entire field needs to be treated. As we get later in the season remember that most miticides have a 14 day digging (pre harvest) interval. Photos: L- two spotted spider mite R - mite damage.
June 6, 2023
Peanut planting has just about wrapped up. The crop came up slow this year due to the Spring rains and cloudy weather, but it appears that stands are good. We are still seeing some replant areas from feral hog damage. Every year we think the feral hog damage can't get worse and every year it gets worse - in many areas 7 out of 10 fields had some feral hog damage this year - usually requiring an area to be reworked and replanted.
September 19, 2023
Hull Blasting at 3 locations gives a better picture of the maturity situation. Hugo, Fort Cobb, and Sayre hull blasting all told a very similar story. The overall crop for Oklahoma is not early and it's not late - it just appears to be on time. There are a few exceptions of some very early fields of 476 and Span17 that appear to be very close, but most fields were going to be ready the first or second week of October.
Expect to see some pod rot. With the extremely wet early conditions and warm soil temperatures we had June through mid July... And now some more wet conditions in mid September we are seeing several fields with some pod rot, hopefully not too severe. You should expect to find it on sandy-loam soils in the low spots where water can accumulate.
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November 21, 2023
2023 was another challenging year with several weeks under the heat dome making pollination difficult and keeping the irrigation pivots running. Despite the challenges Oklahoma farmers did a good job of keeping the quality of the crop high and getting harvest completed. We are still waiting to see how the statewide yield turned out, but we expect it to be a little lower than the past 3 year average due to the many days of extreme heat.
Spring 2023
July 18, 2023
A Wet Start. The 60-day Mesonet map shows it very clearly with the southern part of Blaine County, northern Caddo County, eastern Custer County and much of Beckham County being the wettest peanut producing areas this year.
Fall 2023
Summer 2023
September 5, 2023
Is it going to be an early peanut harvest? We are seeing and hearing about many fields that seem to have loaded up early and seem to be ahead of schedule. We’re not exactly sure why, but its possible many fields did not get good seed set in August due to the extreme heat, or possibly just from the increase number of heat units received this summer. These fields have peanuts on the vine that are mostly mature and they don’t seem to have many late maturing peanuts. I don’t know how this will affect yields, but it might give an opportunity for some earlier than normal harvest dates. The maturity testing (hull blasting sites) should show us some interesting results this year. Check out the maturity testing dates and sites on the OPC Events Calendar.
Important things to remember.
#1 – Harvesting too early can be a very expensive mistake! Most contracts require 65% SMK grade, and they are not accepted if they are below 65%.
#2 – Varietal differences can be a big factor in maturity. Some varieties do not set seed as well during high temperatures and it causes us to see fewer late peanuts on the vine.
#3 – Sometimes maturity testing (hull blasting) can give some misleading information. Keep in mind that we are taking a small sample from a very large field, therefore the sample needs to be representative of the whole field. Different soil types, the amount of water received, and other factors can make a big difference in maturity within the same field. Most of the time, taking more than one sample from the same field is a good idea.
#4 – A maturity sample is 3 or 4 plants (a clump) from a single spot in the field, dug up with a spade/shovel to get all the peanuts on the vine. Shake off the dirt, and bring the sample in with leaves, stems, peanuts and all – the peanuts can be removed from the vines after you arrive at the testing site. Be sure and mark each sample with the field name and location, also knowing your planting date is helpful.
Here are some photos from John Repp. L – R. O9B, Span17, 476
May 10, 2023
Planting Time
A few growers got started planting peanuts on May 2nd, but then showers slowed things down and many growers started on May 6th and continued until the rains came.
Overall it appears acres will be down a little from 2022, but we are hearing of a few acres of Valencia peanuts that were contracted in west-central Oklahoma. Most contracts in Oklahoma this year were for Spanish peanuts, some Virginias also were contracted mostly in Beckham County. Runner contracts were available but came out in late April - which was a little late for some growers who had already made cropping plans.
Seedling Disease Survey
OSU and USDA will be surveying for peanut seedling diseases this spring. If you have unusually high seedling losses, please contact plant pathologists:
Maira Duffeck mairodr@okstate.edu; 347-205-2180)
or
Rebecca Bennett rebecca.bennett@usda.gov; 661-428-7023).