Commodities: Fieldcrops: Peanuts: 2008 Peanut Update
2008 Peanut Update
Decisions on Whether or Not to Replant
John P. Beasley, Jr.
Environmental conditions in the early part of the 2007 growing season were extremely undesirable (driest spring on record) for planting. Many producers had to decide whether or not to plant at all. Some producers decided to take their chances that conditions would improve and went ahead and planted.
Some areas of the Georgia peanut belt did receive sufficient rainfall to plant in early June. However, there were some areas, especially the southwest corner of the state that never did receive adequate rainfall for planting. There were growers that had planted but had very minimal plant emergence. The decision then became “do I replant”. When the decision is occurring in mid to late June, there is a much higher risk that re-planting that late will result in the crop not reaching optimal maturity. The other situation is when planting occurs during the early to middle part of the planting window. If there is a marginal stand the decision to re-plant comes up.
Ten or more years ago we could stand a few skips in the field and still make respectable yields. With the increase of tomato spotted wilt, this is no longer possible. Getting a good stand of peanuts initially and quickly is an important part of obtaining high yields and grades. A final plant stand of four or more plants per foot of row is the desired goal. Sometimes things go wrong, such as planters not calibrated correctly, planting too deep or too shallow, not enough soil moisture, or cold soils. Peanut seed are among the most delicate seed to handle. Rough handling or exposing seed to extremely high temperatures can have an adverse effect on seedling vigor and emergence. On occasion, there may be a seed quality problem. You should save an unopened bag from each lot of seed you have planted until the end of the planting season. If there is a question on seed quality this may help. We would like to see an acceptable stand within 10-14 days after planting. This should be our goal and we need to do everything possible to obtain a rapid uniform emerging stand of peanuts. Find out as much as possible about the seed you’ve purchased including seed count per pound and germination percent.
If an adequate stand is not obtained by 21 days, do a field inspection and look for rotted or decaying seed or abnormal seedlings. Replanting, in part, is not a complete solution to a problem, but hopefully an adequate management decision. The University of Georgia Extension Service recommendation is to offset planters 2-3 inches to the side of the existing row and replant with 40-50 pounds of seed per acre. Replanting in the existing row is not recommended because the same problems may occur again with Aspergillus crown rot or Rhizoctonia seedling disease. In general, replanting a shorter maturing variety with an already emerged late maturing variety is not acceptable. Too many environmental factors come into play to predict the outcome of this practice. Normally it will be extremely difficult to determine optimum maturity for harvest when there has been a replant situation, resulting in significant yield and grade loss. The more expensive, but more reliable option would be to rework the beds and completely replant the field. This practice would depend on the initial planting date and moisture availability. Do everything possible to avoid replanting peanuts.