Browse Peanuts Stories - Page 5

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) plant breeders almost $1 million in grants this fiscal year to produce improved cotton and peanut varieties.

Two consecutive weeks of rainfall in Georgia stunted the growth of the state’s peanut crop and created ideal conditions for diseases in vegetable fields, leaving farmers scrambling to decide what to do next.

Now is the peak time to plant peanuts in Georgia, according to Cristiane Pilon, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension peanut physiologist.

Farmers may have more success growing peanuts if they don’t continuously plant in the same field, according to Scott Tubbs, University of Georgia Tifton campus’s research cropping system agronomist for peanuts.

Commodity updates for high-value row crops like peanuts and cotton highlight this year’s Georgia Ag Forecast meetings, which are currently being held statewide.

The University of Georgia has received a $14 million grant from the U.S. Agency of International Development to manage the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut Research, known as the Peanut Lab, a global peanut research program that works to alleviate hunger by helping farmers in developing countries grow healthy crops. The agreement builds on UGA and USAID’s long-standing partnership on global peanut research dating to the 1980s.

The University of Georgia Peanut Team will provide Georgia producers a glimpse into the upcoming growing season when it hosts the UGA peanut production seminar at the annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference on Thursday, Jan. 18.

An international group of agricultural scientists, including University of Georgia and USDA scientists based in Georgia, have mapped the genetic code of the peanut. Results of the five-year research project give scientists around the world a map with which to unlock some of the genetic potential of the peanut plant.

Economists from the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences recommend that Georgia farmers understand their production costs before planting next year’s crops.

Georgia’s dryland peanut crop excelled this year, while irrigated fields lacked in comparison to past years, said University of Georgia Cooperative Extension peanut agronomist Scott Monfort. The result is a crop estimated to average 4,400 pounds per acre.