Peanut grower june 2017

The

PEANUTGROWER ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC

JUNE 2017

THE PEANUT PRODUCER'S MARKETING & PRODUCTION MAGAZINE www.peanutgrower.com

Georgia Grower Taps Into Artisan Oil Market Digger Replica To Show Technology Benefits

Canopy Temperature: A More Precise Measure Of Plant Health

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Say this is a peanut field with white mold.

This would be the Elatus treated area.

Anyone who grows peanuts knows white mold can take over an operation by storm. But now there’s Elatus,® the fungicide with a powerful active ingredient that controls white mold (also known as Southern Stem Rot), leaf spot and a broad spectrum of other diseases with long-lasting protection. This results in strong, healthy plants, better peanuts, and much higher yield potential.

To learn more, visit SyngentaUS.com/Elatus.

©2016 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label instructions. Some crop protection products may not be registered for sale or use in all states or counties.

Please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Elatus®, the Alliance Frame, the Purpose Icon and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Syngenta Customer Center 1-866-SYNGENT(A) (796-4368).

MW 1ELA6006-7.875x10.75 03/16

The

JUNE 2017

PEANUTGROWER ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC

JUNE 2017

THE PEANUT PRODUCER'S MARKETING & PRODUCTION MAGAZINE www.peanutgrower.com

Georgia Grower Taps Into Artisan Oil Market

Volume 29 • Number 6

Digger Replica To Show Technology Benefits

Canopy Temperature : A More Precise Measure Of Plant Health

Departments 4

Editor’s Note Food influencers get firsthand experience.

6

Market Watch Strong demand expected to continue.

8

News Briefs Automated grading in testing.

21 Peanut Pointers Be timely with first fungicide spray.

12 Features

10 Meet UGA’s New Row-Crop Physiologist

The newest Peanut Team member will focus on drought stress tolerance.

12 Canopy Temperature: A Measure Of Stay Connected

Plant Health

This measurement is more precise than visual observation.

15 Nematode And Disease Protection

A study compared Velum Total and AgLogic 15G.

16 Pressing For An Answer

Georgia grower, Clay Oliver, taps into the artisan oil market and finds a new use for peanuts.

18 A Model Example Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at peanutgrower.com to have exclusive industry news and content delivered directly to your inbox.

www.peanutgrower.com Follow The Peanut Grower on Twitter @PeanutGrower T WIT TE R: @PE ANUTGROWE R

S.C. Extension use student-built replica to show digger technology benefits.

20 Delivering The Best To The Farmer

The contrast in technology from previous eras is great, but the goal is the same.

On the cover: A microscopic view of stomata in a peanut leaf.

Photo provided by Maria Balota, Virginia Tech.

JUNE 2 017 • THE PE ANUT GROWE R /

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EDITORIAL/PRODUCTION Editor Amanda Huber ahuber@onegrower.com Copy Editor Carroll Smith csmith@onegrower.com Art Director Ashley Kumpe

ADMINISTRATION Publisher/Vice President Lia Guthrie (901) 497-3689 lguthrie@onegrower.com Associate Publisher Carroll Smith (901) 326-4443 Sales Manager Scott Emerson (386) 462-1532 semerson@onegrower.com Circulation Manager Charlie Beek (847) 559-7324 Production Manager Kathy Killingsworth (901) 767-4020 kkillingsworth@onegrower.com

For circulation changes or change of address, call (847) 559-7578

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD John Beasley Extension Agronomist Auburn University Dell Cotton Peanut Growers Cooperative Marketing Assn., Franklin, VA Kris Balkcom Agri-Program Associate Auburn University Craig Kvien Coastal Plain Experiment Station,Tifton, GA

Jason Woodward Extension Plant Pathologist Texas A & M University David Jordan Extension Agronomist North Carolina State University Glen Harris Extension Agronomist University of Georgia Jason Ferrell Extension Weed Specialist University of Florida

ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC Mike Lamensdorf President/Treasurer Lia Guthrie Publisher/Vice President The Peanut Grower (ISSN 1042-9379) is an agribusiness magazine for U.S. peanut producers. Published in eight monthly issues, January through July and November. Annual subscriptions are $40.00. Single Copy price is $5.00. Annual overseas subscriptions are $70.00, including Canada/Mexico.

Periodicals postage paid at Memphis, TN. Copyright © 2017 One Grower Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved except where otherwise noted. The Peanut Grower ® is a registered trademark, which reserves all rights granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in association with the registration. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO OMEDA COMMUNICATIONS, CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT, P.O. BOX 1388, NORTHBROOK, IL 600651388. All statements, including product claims, are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim.

The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claim as its own, and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher. Printed in the USA. One Grower Publishing, LLC, also publishes Cotton Farming, Rice Farming, Soybean South and Corn South.

A Great Experience

I

t doesn’t take a mound of educational research data to know that hands-on learning is the best way to acquire knowledge and skills about something. Would you have felt confident that you knew how to plant peanuts after a lecture or two and a PowerPoint slide show? No. You had to get in the tractor and do it yourself.

Knowing there is nothing like getting to use a product first hand and build your own personal creation, the National Peanut Board with the help of the Culinary Institute of America set up an opportunity for a group of chefs, Amanda Huber foodservice professionals and food Editor, The Peanut Grower bloggers to work with Green Peanut Oil, the artisan oil creation of peanut grower, Clay Oliver.

The event was part of the NPB’s second annual Millennial Food Summit, a two-day event in St. Helena, Calif., in which 30 chefs and food leaders discussed the impact millennials are having on the food industry while also introducing them to new peanut food concepts. Read more about Oliver and the event on page 16.

After guest speakers and a cooking demonstration featuring dishes using Green Peanut Oil by CIA culinary instructor, Chef Almir Da Fonseca, summit participants made their way up to the teaching kitchen, an expansive room of the best in modern stoves, ovens and cookware. Spread out on a couple of tables were fresh fruits and vegetables of all types, cheeses and fresh herbs. On another table there were all sorts of proteins – beef, pork, chicken, shellfish, salmon and other items. Besides the instruction to incorporate Green Peanut Oil in your dishes, chefs were also able to use flavored peanuts, such as Lord Nut Levington’s Dill Pickle Ranch flavored peanuts, and also peanut butter, which many did. Over the course of the next couple of hours, all the attendees, including Lonnie Fortner, Mississippi peanut grower and NPB board member, Oliver and myself, worked in groups to complete some dishes that would then become our lunch for the day.

It was neat getting to watch real chefs in action, but it was also a great way for them to learn about the diversity of peanuts and peanut oil in cooking. Whether the dish was Asian or Latin-inspired, hot or cold, an appetizer bite or an entrée portion, peanuts and Green Peanut Oil added great flavors, texture and taste. What a great way for these food influencers to gain personal experience far beyond what they already knew about peanuts.

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EPA Approval Approval EPA for In-Furrow In-Furrow on for Peanuts, plus Peanuts, New Rates Rates and New Timings Timings in FL and GA.

E H T L L A S E K MA E C N E R DIFFE Labeled for the following applications:

Foliar

®

In-Furrow

Applied foliar or in-furrow, Radiate strengthens young plants’ roots to promote bigger, higher-quality yields.

“The Scales Don’t Lie.”

Radiate® is a patented formulation of IBA and Kinetin that helps crops develop longer, healthier, stronger roots to improve nutrient uptake, stress resistance and plant health.

In many soil types or application systems, the root force of Radiate may enhance yields and crop quality, so ask your CPS dealer about it today.

Radiate at 2 oz/ac at early bloom

This year, put the root force of Radiate in your crops.

See how other growers are making a difference this season with stronger results at LovelandProducts.com/ Radiate.

Text Radiate to 31313 for more information. © 2017 Loveland Products Inc. Radiate is a registered trademark of Loveland Products, Inc. Radiate is not registered in California and is not approved or intended to be used or sold in California. Always read and follow label directions.

7245/2017

2012 Overstreet Farms Radiate Peanut Trial On dry land, splitt fie fi ld application: Untreated area picked ................................................. 4.81 ac Total weight .................................................................. 26,569 lbs Untreated area yield .................................................... 5,523 lbs/ac Treated area picked .................................................... 4.14 ac Total weight .................................................................. 26,724 lbs Treated area yield ......................................................... 6,455 , lbs/ac Total Total Yield Yield Increase Increase ............................................... +932 lbs/ac lbs/ac Source: Rocky Courson, CPS Baxley, GA 2012 Quote credited to Huey Lane, Grower

Strong Demand For U.S. Peanuts Expected To Continue

P

eanut producers are entering into the 2017 peanut crop year with an expanding market and positive industry happenings that should lead to optimism. As one southeastern farmer put it, “I could be optimistic if it would just rain.”

It is easy in today’s world to allow a negative attitude to develop just from watching the national news. But for peanuts and peanut farming, higher prices, a peanut program that works and expanding markets should develop into optimism. Ed White, chairman of the National Peanut Board explained the goal of most producers when he said, “We want to be able to farm profitably and pass our farm on to future generations.”

A few of the factors that have worked to improve peanut marketability include defusing the peanut allergy issue with research, outreach and education; technology advancements underway in peanut grading to reduce labor and costs; a favorable response to peanuts from the first Farm Bill hearing; China’s continued interest in buying U.S. peanuts; reaching millennials who are more favorable to vegetable protein, sustainability and health benefits than previous generations; investing in production research that benefits the producer immediately; and uniting as an industry on promotions, themes and the peanut message. For the peanut grower, it is “show time” to plant, produce and harvest a quality peanut crop that shows a profit in 2017.

2016 Crop Movement Prices for the 2016 peanuts were depressed. Many producers refused to contract at the $375 per-ton level optioning for the loan at $355 per ton hoping for higher prices later. China’s 6 /

THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

J. Tyron Spearman

Contributing Editor, The Peanut Grower

Leading Marketing Indicators (May 12, 2017) 2017 Acreage Est. Up 5% ................................................. 1,751,000 acres 2016 Acreage Planted..................................................... 1,671,000 acres 2016 Production (3,675 lbs/A)............................................ 2,842,500 tons 2016 FSIS Inspections (4/24/17).......................................... 2,776,545 tons 2016 Market Loan (4-4-17).................................................. 2,270,000 tons 2016 Market Loan Redemptions....................................... 1,464,767 tons 2016-17 Domestic Usage (8 Mo.) ................................................. Up 2.2% 2016-17 Exports (7 Mo.) ..................................................................Up 9.6% NATIONAL POSTED PRICE (per ton) Runners -$424.43; Spanish - $409.00; Valencia/Virginias - $429.97

purchases and a USDA correction in supply numbers resulted in a bidding battle for the uncontracted 2016 loan peanuts. Volumes are down to less than 800,000 tons, 25 percent less than this date last year. Prices have been offered at $500 per ton plus and are sure to be sold by the 9-month deadline in November.

Most farmers signed up for the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, which will result in a payment in October, three months after last year’s crop is sold.

With a reference price of $535 per ton and an average price of about $384 per ton, payments will be near $150 per ton applied to 85 percent of the farm base.

Selling 2017 Peanuts Contract negotiating and signings have been slowed recently as farmers moved into the fields for planting. Most farmers have decided on acres, varieties and locations and have informed the buying points with an estimate. Many farmers depend on the local buying point manager to protect their interest,

contract volumes and negotiations as they return to the field. Some analysts believe that more than 60 to 70 percent of the crop is contracted with shellers.

Average prices for the Southeast remained at $475 per ton after an earlier $500 per ton. High-oleic peanuts had a $50 per ton premium. Southwest peanut contracts held at $550 for high-oleic Virginias, $500 per ton for high-oleic runners. The VC region had $500 per ton with some high-oleic runners at $475 per ton.

Peanut seed became an issue after germination was lower than expected on varieties that suffered from the late-season drought in 2016. Many germ scores were 80 percent or lower causing farmers to increase seed count to guarantee a good stand. Seed could not be classified as certified with a 75 percent or lower germination rating.

Acreage Expansion USDA says a peanut acreage increase may pu sh product ion h ig her for PE ANUTGROWE R .COM

ment the production of peanut oil.

Peanut export shipments were up 9.6 percent over last year with another strong month for raw-shelled, up 18.5 percent.

Raw-shelled peanut shipments increased for the top five buyers from August through March. China continues to lead in-shell purchases, but March buys were down. Peanut butter exports are down only 7.8 percent with Canada as the favorite market for that product. Exports could expand further, particularly if Argentina continues to get rain during their harvest season causing crop losses.

2017/18, a broad-based interest to grow more peanuts would raise U.S. sown acreage by 5 percent to 1.75 million acres. This would be the highest acreage since 1991/92. However, harvested acreage is expected to increase nearly 9 percent, which reflects a more normal level of acreage abandonment in Texas.

U.S. peanut production in 2017/18 is forecast up 8 percent to 6.1 billion pounds. Domestic food demand for peanuts in 2017/18 is forecast up 3 percent to 3.3 billion pounds.

Exports Increasing Strong export demand for U.S. peanuts may continue as well—supported at the 2016/17 level of 1.4 billion pounds.

China has quickly emerged as the leading foreign market for U.S. peanuts.

Imports by China are likely to stay firm as processors there are seeking to aug-

Markets Strong Peanut producers are facing prospects for a good year. Markets are strong at home and abroad. Expansions and upgrading signifies confidence in the future. Now, it all comes down to the weather. PG

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Golden Invests In Infrastructure

USDA Farm Storage Facility Loan

Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts, a subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland Co., has announced that it is investing in significant infrastructure upgrades to improve speed and efficiency in handling farmer stock. The enhancements are targeted to be in place for the 2017 harvest season.

“Our customers and suppliers have always counted on Golden Peanut’s great logistics, and now we’re making the system even better,” says Grant Belden, vice president for North American shelling. “We are investing across the board in additional drying vans, increasing our drying capacity by 13 percent.

“We’re insta lling new cleaners and handling equipment as we focus on operationa l excellence. We’re modernizing our buying point in Donalsonville, Ga., by making major improvements in truck dumping and cleaning capabilities,” Belden says.

“Taken together, the result will be faster, more efficient service throughout our system for farmers and customers alike.”

Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts is also offering farmers an extensive list of additional marketing services as well as access to grain elevator, transportation and warehouse facilities.

“We’re pleased to offer our farmer suppliers a full array of products and services to help them grow their businesses,” says Greg Mills, president of Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts. “From crop risk insurance to FOB trucking to access to elevators and warehouses, we want to make sure our suppliers benefit from the full range of ADM’s global resources. Our experienced team will be talking to our suppliers about these great products and services soon, and we hope farmers are as excited about them as we are.”

Mills adds that at ADM, everything they do starts with the farmer in mind.

The Farm Storage Facility Loan Program provides low-cost financing for producers to build or upgrade on-farm storage, handling facilities and storage and handling trucks.

Peanuts are an approved commodity.

The loans can be used for items such as drying and cooling equipment, safety equipment, cold storage buildings, hay barns and grain bins. The FSFL program benefits producers who lack local commercial storage options or have limited marketing options for their commodities at harvest time. A producer may borrow up to $500,000 per loan, with a minimum down payment of 15 percent.

Having on-farm storage helps producers gain flexibility in being able to sell their crop at a time when the market is favorable for them, rather than being forced to sell immediately after harvest or pay for commercial storage.

The storage loans are not for crop production equipment.

Visit www.fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport or contact your local FSA office for more information.

THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

Grading System Changes Randall Taylor, State Supervisor of the Georgia Federal State Inspection Service, recently reported on the progress of changes to the peanut grading system.

On the eNuts Program, Taylor says a new peanut load tracking system will allow buying points to track loads of peanuts and conveyances from the time the peanuts leave the farm and will also make the grading results available to the buying point and the farmer in near real-time. The program integrates with USDA farmer-stock software as well as peanut drying software such as PecMan. E-Nuts was installed in various buying points last year with favorable results.

At the Fudge Buying Point, in

In Brief: • Golden increases drying capacity; improves dumping, cleaning capabilities.

• Low-cost financing for on-farm storage, handling.

• Automated grading shows promise.

system

• Canada increases in-shell consumption by 25 percent in 2016.

• NPB to get word out on early peanut introduction to prevent allergies.

• Sheller signs multi-year agreement for software technology.

Colquitt, Ga., the Automatic Sampler was installed and tested by USDA for the 2016 season. To operate, the inspector pushes a button in the grading room to start the sampling process that reads a bar code telling the sampler the tag number, size and number of probes needed for that conveyance.

The entire process is automated.

New grading equipment is also in development through a project with Georgia Tech. The goals are to reduce labor, improve efficiency and enhance cost effectiveness resulting in a more consistent inspection. All changes and/or upgrades have to be approved

by USDA.

Canada Sets Import Record The A merican Peanut Council reports that peanut exports to Canada have continued to grow; increasing 7 percent over 2015 to a record 118,937 metric tons for all peanut products.

The peanut industry looked favorably upon President Trump’s decision not to scrap NAFTA but to re-negotiate some sections.

The APC promotes U.S. peanuts PE ANUTGROWE R .COM

in Canada by communicating with consumers through social media and inf luencers, such as dieticians, and also by partnering with the retail trade to encourage eating more peanuts and peanut products. Using incentives for in-store ads, APC encourages retailers in Canada to buy U.S. in-shells.

In-shell exports to Canada were up 25 percent in 2016, a year when in-shell exports were down elsewhere.

In 2017, APC added activities to promote private label peanut butter at retail as well. Thirty-four major food retailers featured peanut butter for seven weeks during the first quarter of the year.

Though sales data for 2017 is not yet available, research commissioned

by APC shows that peanut butter sales inside Canada topped $235 million in 2016, a 3 percent increase from the year prior. Canada is the number one export market for processed peanut butter.

The Seam Expands Sheller Partnership The Seam, a leading provider of agribusiness software and trading solutions, recently announced a new multi-year agreement with a major peanut shelling organization for its growing commodity management platform.

The Seam’s platform is designed with foundational technology, including document digitization, real-time data for decision making and embedded integration with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), EWR, Inc., and Georgia Federal-State Inspection Service, among others. The platform is being further extended for sales and shelled goods, for which industry collaboration workshops will begin in the coming weeks.

“Launched only nine months ago, our cloud-based platform has been transformational for participating shelling organizations, buying point businesses, producers and manufacturers,” said Mark Pryor, Chairman and CEO of The Seam. “The need for industry efficiency through modern T WIT TE R: @PE ANUTGROWE R

technology is paramount, and we are thrilled to deliver it while welcoming new shelling organizations into our growing peanut software network.”

The platform delivers a cloud-based hub for shelling organizations to interconnect with affiliate businesses and producers, providing real-time status and value of stock, contracting, farm analysis, grading data interchange and logistics management. Additionally, illustrative da shboards, position reporting, warehouse receipt management and system-guided workf lows create streamlined processes, which result in more productive, collaborative and cost-effective operations.

NPB Campaign On Peanut Allergy The National Peanut Board team is launching a special campaign to inform key groups about the impact of early introduction of peanut foods to prevent peanut allergies.

The LEAP study, which was funded in part by NPB, found that among infants at high risk for developing peanut allergies, those who ate peanut foods in their first year experienced up to 86 percent risk reduction for developing peanut allergies. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases released new guidelines to make it easier for families to introduce peanut foods.

Because registered dietitian nutritionists and other health professionals and influencers are important parts of moving the needle on early introduction, the NPB is reaching out through a variety of channels – in person, digitally, at conferences and via our health influencer ambassador program.

Getting this message to consumers could be one of the most important challenges facing the peanut industry this year.

Georgia Farmers Invest In Research The Georgia Peanut Commission board of directors approved $523,496

Calendar • June 24-28 — USA Peanut Congress, Amelia Island, Fla. For information, visit peanut-shellers.org or call 229888-2508.

• July 11-13 — American Peanut Research Education Society Annual Meeting, Alburquerque, N.M. For more information, go to www.apresinc.org.

• July 13 — Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day, Darrell Williams Research Farm, Moultrie, Ga., Registration begins at 7:15 a.m., trams depart at 8 a.m.

Tour ends at noon.

• July 20-22 — Southern Peanut Growers Conference, Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort, Miramar Beach, Fla. For more information, visit southernpeanutfarmers.org or call 229386-3470.

in research project funding for the 2017-18 research budget year. The approved projects include 32 proposals submitted from the University of Georgia and USDA Agricultural Research Service. The research programs primarily focus on peanut breeding for higher yield and improved quality; economics; conservation methods; irrigation and water management; pests, weed and disease management.

Dona ld Chase, GPC Research Committee chairman, says, “Peanut growers are pleased to invest in the future by providing monetary support for research and education that has continued to demonstrate a return on our investment.”

GPC manages funding for the S out he a s t e r n Pe a nut R e s e a rc h Initiative, which includes research funding of $1,215,517 for projects in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

These projects are funded through the National Peanut Board check-off.

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JUNE 2 017 • THE PE ANUT GROWE R /

Meet UGA’s New Row-Crop Physiologist The newest member of the UGA Peanut Team will focus on improved drought stress tolerance.

T

he University of Georgia’s peanut team gained a new member recently with the addition of crop physiologist Cristiane Pilon. Her expertise in the physiological processes of the peanut plant and management of the plant’s stress levels will equip Georgia farmers with tools to produce an even better crop.

“The peanut team needed a physiologist to help manage one of the state’s highest-value row crops. They had general Cristiane agronomists, breeders, Pilon entomologists, all of whom have areas of expertise for peanuts, but a physiologist was needed to help answer other questions,” says Pilon, who is based at the UGA Tifton campus.

She views drought as one of the main problems that peanut farmers face, especially because half of Georgia’s crop is produced in non-irrigated fields. Last year’s drought, which spanned a couple of months in late summer and early fall, led to lower yields and can make aflatoxin problems worse. “When that happens, one big problem leads to another,” Pilon says.

Pilon will study the physiological and metabolic processes of peanut plants and identify how the plants respond to stress conditions such as drought, high temperatures, insect and disease pressures, especially pressure from the tomato spotted wilt virus.

“There are several physiological processes involved in the growth and development of peanut plants that contribute to productivity,” Pilon says. “Our goal is to understand those processes and how we can manage the crop to improve tolerance to stresses and achieve high productivity.”

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THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

UGA Honors Peggy Ozias-Akins The University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF) has named Professor Peggy Ozias-Akins a Distinguished Research Professor, a title awarded to UGA faculty recognized internationally for their contributions to knowledge and whose work promises to foster continued creativity in their discipline.

In 2015, she was awarded a Creative Research Medal by UGARF and the D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor Award by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).

Ozias-Akins, a CAES professor of horticulture, applies advanced biotechnology and molecular biology tools — tools she developed herself in some cases — to improve crops like peanuts.

She is an expert on apomixis, the asexual production of seeds in plants. Even though it was studied for decades, there was little to show for these efforts until Ozias-Akins took a pioneering approach and applied a combination of forward genetics, genetic engineering and genomics to the problem. She was among the first to localize apomixis to a chromosomal region. She later found the first plant gene associated with it. Her work lays the foundation to begin research into the systematic application of apomixis in plant breeding, which could have an enormous impact on agriculture in both advanced and developing nations.

Working with the federally funded Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab project based at UGA, Ozias-Akins and her colleagues are seeking genetic markers that indicate resistance to aflatoxin, which could have a global impact on the peanut industry.

Ozias-Akins co-chairs the Peanut Genome Sequencing Consortium, an extension of the International Peanut Genome Initiative. As a member of the initiative, she helped to sequence the commercial peanut, which will jumpstart breeders’ ability to identify genes or areas of genes with particular advantageous traits such as disease resistance or oil chemistry.

“The peanut is a fascinating crop. It flowers above ground while it fruits below,” she says.

“There are a lot of challenges growing peanuts from both foliar and soilborne pathogens.”

In her research, Ozias-Akins has helped to create peanut lines that are resistant to fungal contamination and produce fewer allergens. She has also introduced several genes into peanuts, including one that reduces the allergens in peanuts. PG

Answering Producer Questions UGA Cooperative Extension peanut agronomist Scott Monfort believes Pilon’s expertise will serve Georgia well.

“She is already helping our peanut team understand and grasp the inner workings of the peanut plant,” Monfort says. “If we know how much drought and extreme temperatures a peanut plant can tolerate, we can convey that information to our growers.”

A native of Brazil, Pilon received her doctorate in cotton physiology from the

University of Arkansas.

“Whether I’m talking to Extension agents or researchers, we’re trying to figure out the needs of the crop, then set up experiments to answer those questions so the growers can increase yields,” Pilon says. “That’s why our responsibilities are so important. We are all serving Georgia’s peanut growers.” PG Provided by Clint Thompson, UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

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Every day, the National Peanut Board works to help America’s 7,000 peanut-farming families improve production practices and put the world’s highest-quality peanut

can continue to farm the land you love. Learn what we’re doing to improve economics

By Growers For Growers For The Future

Canopy Temperature: A Measure Of Plant Health This measurement is more precise than visual observation.

By Marie Balota, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech, Tidewater Agricultural Research and Experiment Center

W

hat can we tell about the peanut plants in the numbered pictures on the next page? In one picture, a heathy crop is next to plants wilted by drought. In another, a field infested by spider mites is next to one showing leafhopper burn, and in both, plants are losing the green foliage. At the bottom, peanuts are also wilted and losing green color because of Sclerotinia blight disease on the left picture and Tomato Spotted Wilt virus on the right. In each picture peanuts look differently, but one common thing can tell the story for each of them: canopy temperature.

To grow, plants must have green, healthy leaves, and be well supplied with water and nutrients through the roots. They also need carbon dioxide from the air entering the leaves through pores called “stomata.”

How Plants Cool Down The microscopic bean-shaped stomata work in both directions allowing carbon dioxide to get into the leaves but also allowing water to escape from the green tissue in the process called transpiration.

Transpiration may look like a waste of water, but actually, it is an important mechanism to cool leaves while carbon fixation and other Stomata enzymatic processes perform properly for plants to grow and produce.

The more water in the plants, the more water will escape through the stomata. In this scenario, a peanut canopy could be 75 degrees Fahrenheit when the air is 85 degrees Fahrenheit and 85 degrees Fahrenheit when air is 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Note that the opti12 /

THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

Canopy Temperature In Irrigation Scheduling The University of Georgia’s Smart Sensor Array (UGA SSA) consists of smart sensor nodes, which is a combination of electronics and sensors installed in the field, and a gateway. A UGA SSA node consists of a circuit board, a radio frequency (RF) transmitter, soil moisture sensors and temperature sensors. Each sensor node accommodates up to three Watermark soil moisture sensors and two canopy temperature sensors, such as SmartField’s SmartCrop sensors.

The UGA SSA uses wireless mesh networks to communicate between irrigation sensor nodes. The RF transmitters act as a repeater to pass along data from other nodes to form a meshed network of nodes.

If any of the nodes in the network stop transmitting or receiving or if signal pathways become blocked, the operating software re-configures signal routes in order to maintain data acquisition from the network. The RF transmitter antenna is mounted on spring-loaded, hollow, flexible fiberglass rods approximately 8 feet above ground level, which allows field equipment such as tractors and sprayers to pass over the sensors. The effective range of the RF transmitter is about 2,500 feet.

Installing a 20-node UGA SSA system can cost approximately $3,500.

However, as Wesley Porter, University of Georgia irrigation and precision ag specialist says, installing irrigation sensors throughout an irrigated field is key to understanding and managing the soil moisture variability that exists in all fields.

Based on irrigation scheduling research, Porter says that they recommend producers implement some sort of irrigation scheduling strategy beyond the checkbook or historical evapotranspiration replacement method.

“Free methods such as PeanutFARM and IrrigatorPro perform very well and do a great job at estimating irrigation timing and requirements, and there can be additional benefits from employing more advanced methods that include sensors,” he says. PG PE ANUTGROWE R .COM

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5

6

1) A healthy peanut crop. 2) Peanut plants wilted by drought. 3) Peanuts infested by spider mites. 4) A peanut crop showing leafhopper burn. Plants in pictures 3 and 4 are both losing green foliage. In pictures 5 and 6, peanuts are wilted and losing green color because of Sclerotinia blight disease and Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, respectively. In each picture, peanuts look different, but one common factor in the stressed peanuts is elevated canopy temperature compared to the healthy crop..

mum leaf temperature for photosynthesis is around 75 degrees Fahrenheit and starts to sharply decline at over 85 degrees Fahrenheit; not coincidental that most Growing Degree Day calculations have a temperature cut at 95 degrees Fahrenheit, when photosynthetic processes are minimal.

When no water is left, the stomata close and heat builds up in the plants, which could create temperatures in excess from the air. Similarly, leaves wilted by root rot or dried by feeding insects and diseases will be hotter than healthier plants.

T WIT TE R: @PE ANUTGROWE R

Canopy temperature can easily be measured remotely with infra-red sensors.

Uses For This Data Monitoring canopy temperature allows farmers to make timely management decisions, such as when to irrigate.

Researchers with the USDA/ARS in Lubbock, Texas, developed an irrigation management tool based on plant optimal temperatures for enzymatic processes relative to the current JUNE 2 017 • THE PE ANUT GROWE R /

13

From the ground or from the air, we collected canopy temperature information at several times during the day and during the growing season.

canopy temperature. When canopy temperature exceeds a threshold value for the crop, irrigation is initiated.

Other applications use canopy temperature to select varieties more tolerant to drought and less susceptible to diseases, which fits into my program area research.

Variety Selection From the ground or from the air, we collected canopy temperature information at several times during the day and during the growing season, and we compared canopy temperature with other pertinent observations such as leaf wilting because of water deficit stress or defoliation due to leaf disease. In the end, we compared canopy temperature, wilting and defoliation with yield to develop estimates of yield using indirect evaluations. Using estimates such as this can make selection decisions for yield and stress tolerance happen even before harvest. After harvest, breeders can better manage time and resources by concentrating only on the most promising varieties estimated during vegetation.

Cool Under Stress The table shows the correlation coefficients (r) from a 14 /

THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

Pearson correlation matrix between canopy temperature (CT) taken from the ground and aerially, and visual wilting score, pod yield, sound mature kernel (SMK) percent, and crop value evaluated at one month (Aug 18) after imposition of two water regimes on 23 peanut varieties: well-watered and water deficit stress. The correlations showed that hotter canopies were wilted more and had less yield, SMK and crop gross return than cooler canopies.

Similarly, we found that peanut varieties with severe leaf defoliation because of late leaf spot disease were hotter than less defoliated varieties with better resistance to the disease.

Therefore, canopy temperature can serve as a more precise evaluation tool for late leaf spot disease in breeding nurseries instead of a visual rating performed by different people with different visual perceptions. PG Ground CT Aug 18; 3 p.m.

Aerial CT Aug 30; 3 p.m.

Visual wilting; Aug 3, 15:00

0.723

0.636

Visual wilting Aug 10, 9:00

0.878

0.599

Visual wilting Aug 10, 15:00

0.863

0.612

Pod yield

-0.547

-0.507

Sound Mature Kernel

-0.741

-0.521

Crop value

-0.634

-0.513

Probability for the genotype effect —

drought

0.005

0.179

—

well-watered

0.999

0.902

PE ANUTGROWE R .COM

Nematode And Disease Protection A study compared pest products Velum Total and AgLogic 15G.

By Austin Hagan, Professor of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University

T

he effectiveness of Velum Total alone or in combination with an at-pegging application of Propulse was compared with AgLogic aldicarb 15G for managing peanut root-knot nematode, leaf spot and white mold.

For the rotation scheme, peanut was cropped behind cotton in 2013, peanut in 2014 and 2016 and sunn hemp in 2015. At-plant nematicide treatments included Velum Total at 18 fluid ounces per acre applied with a single nozzle in-furrow at 5 gallons per acre spray volume and AgLogic aldicarb 15G at 7 pounds per acre in-furrow. A non-treated control was also included.

Propulse at 13.7 f luid ounces per acre was broadcast to Velum Totaltreated peanuts at-pegging with a tractor-mounted boom sprayer with three TX-8 nozzles per row calibrated to deliver 15 gallons per acre of spray volume at 45 pounds per square inch and immediately watered in with 0.2 inches.

Planting in all study years was in early June and irrigation was used as needed.

Leaf spot and white mold were controlled with multiple applications of Provost 433SC alone or alternated with Abound 2SC along with additional applications of Bravo WeatherStik and/ or Absolute for a total of 7 total fungicide applications per year.

Velum Total plus Propulse at-peg had lower leaf spot ratings than Velum Total alone along with AgLogic aldicarb and the non-treated control in 2013; similar leaf spot ratings were observed for all treatments and non-treated control in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Rotation Effect, Again White mold incidence was also lower for Velum Total followed by Propulse at-peg in 2013 and 2016 compared to the control; however, no differences in disease were noted in any year between the former nematicide program and Velum Total alone. Greater stem rot indices were reported in 2013 and 2014 for AgLogic than in the control.

Final root-knot juvenile populations differed by year with the greatest numbers in 2014, while low counts were noted in 2015 and 2016. Yields differed by year and nematicide treatment with

Product Highlights • Velum Total is a combination of fluopyram and imidicloprid.

• The performance of Velum Total has been similar or better than Temik 15G, 10 lb/A at plant.

• Propulse, a combination of prothioconazole and fluopyram, can be applied at pegging followed by irrigation to provide additional nematode protection.

• Apply AgLogic 15G according to label restrictions for distance from a water source and worker personal protection equipment.

2014 and 2016 having low yields when peanut followed peanut. Yield response with Velum Total plus Propulse at-peg but not the aldicarb programs was significantly higher than the non-treated control. Yields for Velum Total alone and aldicarb products were similar. PG

Yield Response Seedling vigor differed by nematicide treatment with greater ratings from Velum Total alone or with Propulse at-peg compared with the non-treated control, while the vigor rating for AgLogic aldicarb was intermediate.

Leaf spot intensity differed by year with the greatest disease in 2013, while minimal leaf spot and premature defoliation was observed in 2014 and 2016.

T WIT TE R: @PE ANUTGROWE R

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Pressed For An Answer Georgia grower, Clay Oliver, taps into the artisan oil market and finds a new use for his peanuts.

By Amanda Huber

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n 2008, everything changed for the Oliver family in Pitts, Ga. That was the year Clay Oliver’s father passed away. Before fully recovering from this heartbreak, the recession hit adding even more woes to the farm situation. But you don’t become caretaker of a Centennial Farm in Georgia if you can’t meet adversity head on. Clay’s answer was to find a way to make it work and a way to save the farm.

His first thought was to make biofuel. If he could make his own fuel, that would help.

“While I was researching about biofuels, someone suggested making a foodgrade oil,” Oliver says. “So I started researching that and learned everything I could.”

Oliver learned that the one method of making oils that he could accomplish most easily was the cold-pressed method. Cold-pressed oils are unrefined cooking oils in which the oil is extracted by a press without the use of chemicals or high temperatures. The result is oil that keeps its great natural flavors and nutrients. To be considered cold pressed, the temperature cannot rise above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

A Growing Trend Oliver started with sunflowers, then pecans and, finally, peanuts. Working wit h t he non-prof it orga niz ation Georgia Organics, Oliver hoped to tap into a growing market for new and different oil products, as well as Southern foods and handmade farm products.

Had he known the recognition his products would garner, it might have been easier to convince his mother and 16 /

THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

Clay Oliver, owner of Oliver Farm, stands with Culinary Institute of America instructor, Chef Almir Da Fonseca following the introduction and cooking demonstration of Green Peanut Oil at the National Peanut Board-sponsored Millennial Food Summit.

brother that the artisan oil business was the right path.

“This endeavor has been very challenging, but deeply rewarding,” Oliver says.

PE ANUTGROWE R .COM

“This endeavor has been very challenging, but deeply rewarding.”

In 2016, his Green Peanut Oil won a Good Food Award, a highly coveted honor from a group that delves into the flavor and environmental practices behind small-batch foods like chocolate, coffee, cheese and jam. Oliver’s oil has also been featured in two bastions of Southern cuisine and culture, Southern Living and Garden & Gun. High-Level Endorsement Clay was also a featured speaker at the National Peanut Board’s second annual Millennial Food Summit in St. Helena, Calif., in early May. Oliver and the NPB, with the help of Culinary Institute of America instructor, Chef Almir Da Fonseca, introduced attendees to green peanut oil, a food product that will help create the food flavor experience millennials look for in a nutritious and sustainable product.

Chef Almir, as most everyone called him, spoke highly of the Green Peanut Oil, which had been sent to him weeks earlier so he could work with it and create dishes highlighting its good qualities. He said the product has an interesting and new flavor, is a good texture carrier and offers a good finish.

“I like when you have a product that has been used one way for years and, all of a sudden, a light bulb goes off and it can be used a different way,” says the native Brazilian chef. “As a chef, it is exciting to have something new to cook with.”

For Oliver, who is still learning about marketing his products, hearing the comments and reaction to his product was exciting, but also helpful in learning how to connect with people.

“Whether it’s health or sustainability or the story behind the product, it is interesting to see what drives people to try something.”

Finding Their Way Back on the farm, Oliver waits for rain. He says he and his brother try to stay with a three-year rotation of T WIT TE R: @PE ANUTGROWE R

Oliver’s Green Peanut Oil has earned rave reviews from chefs, including Steven Satterfield, whose Atlanta restaurant, Miller Union, is a regular on the list of best Southern restaurants.

cotton and peanuts, mostly the variety Georgia-06G. “We grow dryland, so that puts corn out of the question.”

He also plants about 50 acres of sunf lowers, which he says are extremely drought tolerant and helpful in suppressing weeds. To pick the sunflowers, Oliver says he first tried a combine with a grain head.

“Then we tried a corn head, but found that we were losing too many seeds. This year we bought a row-crop head, which looks like a corn head, but has belts to guide the stalk into the platform and does a better job.”

Oliver says they used strip tillage for years, but because of burrower bug and

pigweed, they have gone back to turning the ground.

“In 2010, we didn’t have any peanuts that were not affected by burrower bug.

Now, we turn the land and then harrow in the winter to disturb the burrower bugs from nesting.” Oliver says they grow from 200 to 400 acres of peanuts, depending on the year and situation.

At present, Oliver says keeping up with what they have started is all the challenge he needs for now. But because he is always learning and researching, there is the possibility of more oilseeds in the future, including an interest in some of the ancestral peanut lines being revived at Clemson University. PG 17

JUNE 2 017 • THE PE ANUT GROWE R /

DENISE ATTAWAY

This model of an automated variable-depth two-row peanut digger-inverter was made by Clemson seniors to help show South Carolina growers about technology to help increase yields.

A Model Example South Carolina Extension to use student-built replica to show benefits of variable-depth digger.

A

group of Clemson agricultural mechanization and business students are building a tabletop variable depth-control peanut digger to help South Carolina producers increase their profits.

This miniature model of an automated variable depth two-row peanut digger-inverter was created and developed

by Clemson seniors to help educate South Carolina growers how this technology can help increase yields. In 2016, South Carolina producers planted more than 110,000 acres of peanuts according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Many Lessons The tabletop peanut digger is a Clemson University Capstone Project led by Hunter Massey, a lecturer in the Clemson agricultural sciences department and a graduate student in plant 18 /

THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

and environmental sciences. Capstone projects are research projects that replicate real-world problems. Seniors at Clemson can choose to do Capstone projects in place of comprehensive exams as final research projects before graduation.

This project is a miniature model of an automated variable depth two-row peanut digger-inverter, which was developed

by Clemson agricultural engineers at the Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville a few years ago.

“This tabletop model will do everything an actual-sized digger will do,” Massey says. “It will be used to help teach peanut producers how to use automated peanut diggers to increase profits by eliminating yield losses.”

Minimize Losses Automated peanut diggers use depth gauges to control blade depth across a variety of soil textures. Doing this maintains a PE ANUTGROWE R .COM

Although it is referred to as a variable-depth peanut digger, Clemson University area row crop Extension agent Andrew Warner says it actually works at a constant depth in that it will maintain the prescribed digging depth across fields of varying soil textures, which are commonly found in the coastal plains of South Carolina.

“This ability to maintain a prescribed depth is critical because although settings for diggers may need to be different depending on the soil texture and soil moisture, generally the pegging or pod zone for peanuts doesn’t change much within a given field,” he says.

“Being able to maintain a prescribed optimum digging depth that is below the pod zone, but not too deep, will help to reduce yield losses during the digging or inversion process of peanut harvest where most yield loss occurs.”

Warner says the digger is able to maintain the prescribed digging depth through the use of a hydraulic top link, which will pitch to the digger until it is in the proper position as indicated by the depth gauge’s position, a depth gauge that is mounted on the sides of the digger and in line with where the tap root is to be cut by the digger blade to give an accurate blade depth, and a computer program. The program, as designed by Kendall Kirk, Clemson University ag engineer, collects sensor data from the depth gauge and makes adjustments to the top link to maintain the prescribed depth set by the grower.

The Cost Of Losses Based on four years of research on this design, conducted both on-farm and at the Edisto Research and Education Center, Warner says that on average in the coastal plains the yield savings is around $19 to $20 per acre or approximately 100 pounds per acre depending on digging conditions.

steady digging depth throughout fields regardless of soil texture, a unique and important feature for the variable clay and sandy soils in the Southeast. Digging in sandy soils can cause digger blades to dip, while clay soil pushes the blades up. In both cases, peanuts are damaged and yields are lost.

“Peanut producers typically will set their diggers to a maximum depth to try to avoid yield loss, but this can create other losses,” says Chris Cullins, a student from Mechanicsville, Md., who is working on the project, along with Zachary Senn of Lexington, S.C. “Trying to dig deeper increases fuel consumption, which increases producers’ costs. This model shows how variable depth control helps to minimize losses.”

Portable Example Grant Youmans of Estill, S.C., another student involved in the project, says the model will be used as an Extension teaching tool. “It will be used during Extension meetings and other educational events to help teach producers how variable-rate technology works and how this technology can help them increase their profits by reducing digging losses.”

The tabletop peanut digger model will be paired with monitors and other equipment to adequately represent real situations, says student Madison Harrington of Florence, S.C. “We expect to have this model completed and ready for work in the fall 2017 semester.” PG Portions of this article by Denise Attaway, Clemson University College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Public Service and Agriculture T WIT TE R: @PE ANUTGROWE R

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY

Dig Into Savings

At a Clemson University peanut field day, producers watch a demonstration of the variable-depth peanut digger.

“The minimum yield savings demonstrated in replicated research has been approximately $10 per acre on approximately 50 pounds per acre, and the maximum yield savings indicated in replicated on-farm research has been up to $100 per acre on approximately 500 pounds per.”

Currently, the technology is not available on commercial diggers, but retrofitting is possible. However, Warner says they are still excited to have the tabletop model as an example to South Carolina growers of how this design created by researchers from Clemson University’s Edisto Research and Education Center, by students with Clemson University’s Agricultural Mechanization Department and with funding by the South Carolina Peanut Board came together to positively impact their harvesting practices and peanut yield. PG

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19

Delivering The Best To The Farmer

By David Jordan, North Carolina State University Extension Agronomist

I

n March, I was invited to a meeting of scientists and support staff who are mapping the peanut genome and developing molecular markers to increase peanut breeding program efficiency. My role, as someone told me, was to “keep this group grounded.” I’m not sure I accomplished that, but I know that as neat and cutting edge as the science is, ultimately its application to the peanut industry is most important. Increasing the availability of varieties that yield well and have improved tolerance and resistance to a broad range of pests and other stresses is the desired output of a tremendous amount of cooperation and investment over the past decade.

In the presentation, I showed a few sketches from Frank McGill’s book From the Mule to the Moon focusing on some of the major breakthroughs from an earlier era. I followed that up with an image of genetic mapping beside a spreadsheet of farms, fields and rotations over a seven-year period. The contrast between eras is huge, but the goal is the same – to deliver the best package for a variety and its management to the farmer.

Big Picture Thinking I developed an acronym called PeanutFARMS, which stands for Flexible, Accessible and Resilient Management Systems. I pointed out that for every acre of peanuts there are generally three other acres on a farm in another crop, and we need to remember that a farmer thinks about many things.

Being able to expand or decrease acreage based on marketing opportunities can lead to greater overall farm success.

Flexibility is great to have, and diversity in a cropping system can make an operation more sustainable. Accessibility can be applied to markets, inputs, capital, knowledge, varieties, etc. Developing tools that are accessible to farmers creates added flexibility. Resiliency is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Practical Advice On Thrips When it comes to insects, weeds and disease, what do you anticipate in the next four weeks after peanuts emerge? The first four to six weeks are critical. What happens if thrips control from in-furrow insecticide is poor? Our experience is that acephate-containing products applied within the first three weeks after planting can help peanuts maintain yield potential. What rate? Look closely at product labels, but we often use 8 ounces per acre. Can I apply acephate-containing products with other materials? Yes, but be careful with paraquat. If you are correcting an issue with minor injury from 20 /

THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

thrips feeding, you are okay in terms of mixing these products (always put at least 8 ounces of Basagran with the mixture), and our work shows that mixing residual herbicides does not increase injury to a point it should not be included.

If injury is moderate to high, avoid paraquat at this time.

Apply the acephate-containing product and let the peanuts recover before the paraquat is applied. We see a major impact on yield when paraquat is applied to peanuts with a lot of thrips injury. In most cases in-furrow systemic insecticide gives enough control of thrips so that you are in the low to moderate category of injury from thrips.

Weed Escapes How do I handle weeds that escaped my soil-applied program? My suggestion is to be ready for an application of paraquat plus Basagran plus residual herbicides within the first three weeks after peanuts have emerged. If there are weed escapes early, paraquat is very effective. Controlling weeds at this point, along with a residual, gives you a clean field and will extend the control further in the season. You are also overlapping residuals and this will help increase the likelihood of capturing a rain for activation with one of your residual sprays. Peanuts are resilient and will recover from herbicide and thrips injury if you eliminate the nagging impact of these pests.

How about stand? Gaps reduce uniformity and the decision to replant or wait for the stand to firm up is difficult. On average, if you have three or more plants per foot, you will be in pretty good shape. With two or less, dropping in with more seed is advisable. Four to five plants per foot of row is ideal.

Do all you can to establish four to five plants and make sure systemic insecticide and inoculant are applied at the correct rates and directed to the bottom of the seed furrow. PG 5 Steps To Resilient Management: 1. Anticipate what might happen before you put a practice or group of practices in place.

2. Identify indicators or ways to determine if what you put in place is holding up or if it is in the early stages of unraveling into a major issue.

3. Have a clear understanding of the tools or inputs available to correct a problem so that the crop can rebound.

4. Implement the corrective action in a timely manner with an eye toward what complications might occur with the action you just took.

5. With each issue and tool or practice you implement to correct it, go back through steps 1-4.

PE ANUTGROWE R .COM

Minimize Drift Potential

Gypsum, Boron And Water

Now is the time to manage weed escapes or new f lushes with postemergence herbicides. It is not uncommon to see evidence of glyphosate drift in peanut fields adjacent to areas where herbicides have been applied to other crops.

Conversely, applications of herbicides such as Cadre or Cobra made to peanut can JASON WOODWARD Texas Agri-Life Extension damage nearby cotton fields.

Plant Pathologist Of the potential causes of herbicide damage to non-target or sensitive crops, the most common is physical drift and/or tank contamination.

Physical drift is caused by the movement of spray droplets and may occur with any herbicide. Factors affecting the potential for drift are often related to the application equipment and parameters used by the applicator. For example, increasing droplet size can reduce spray drift.

This can be achieved by reducing spray pressure, using a larger nozzle orifice or the addition of additives that increase spray viscosity. Efficacy of postemergence herbicides that require small droplets may be reduced if droplet size is increased drastically.

Method of application also affects the potential of herbicide drift. In general, spray drift is greater from aerial applications compared to ground applications. Lowering your boom height will reduce the potential for drift by decreasing the distance droplets have to reach the target.

In addition to the movement of spray droplets, some herbicides can change from a liquid to a gas and have the potential to move great distances, especially under certain environmental conditions.

High temperatures lead to an increase in the volatility of herbicides, while low humidity and high temperatures leads to the evaporation of spray droplets and a greater risk of drift. Applications made when wind is in excess of 15 miles per hour often results in the off-target movement of herbicides; whereas, applications made under calm conditions can result in inversions that result in long-distance movement. Pay close attention to herbicide labels with an emphasis on rate, application method and recommendations relating to drift.

New auxin herbicide technologies registered in cotton, such as Enlist Duo and Xtend Flex, have interactive labels with additional information related to drift minimization, application parameters and tank cleanout.

Growers are finishing up planting season, which has been a tough one because of the lack of rain. That, plus extremely warm conditions, has caused some stand issues but for the most part the peanut crop looks good. Early planted peanuts are well on their way, and growers are starting disease management SCOTT MONFORT University of Georgia and postemergence weed conExtension Agronomist trol programs. Typically, disease programs are initiated 30 to 40 days after planting. Stay on schedule as disease pressure is predicted to be higher this year because of unseasonably warm conditions and shorter rotations.

Three things to keep in mind in June are gypsum, boron and moisture. Decisions on gypsum and boron need to be made over the next few weeks as about a third of the crop moves into the 40-to-60 days after planting range. In talking with Glenn Harris, UGA Fertility Specialist, there are a few things to consider on calcium and boron. Traditional Three things calcium needs are accomplished to keep in through either lime at planting mind in June or gypsum at early bloom. If you have at least 500 pounds are gypsum, per acre soil-test calcium in boron and the top 4 inches of soil AND a Ca-to-K ratio of 3:1 or higher, moisture. then you are not likely to see a yield response to calcium fertilization. However, all seed peanuts should automatically receive 1,000 pounds per acre of gypsum (calcium sulfate) at early bloom. While a lot of gypsum is applied as “insurance,” and I wouldn’t argue against this strategy, I would rather see you put your money into gypsum than into unproven or untested products.

In regards to boron, growers need to apply 0.5 pounds per acre. There are a number of ways to apply boron with the easiest being foliar feeding 0.25 pounds per acre tankmixed with the first two fungicide sprays. Also, beware of products recommended at very low rates. For example, 6 ounces of a 5 percent liquid boron only gives you 0.025 pounds per acre.

Finally, irrigate as needed to reduce crop stress in the early season. There are several irrigation scheduling programs like PeanutFarm, at http://peanutfarm.org, and Irrigator pro, at http://irrigatorpro.org/farm, that can help you provide needed moisture.

T WIT TE R: @PE ANUTGROWE R

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JUNE 2 017 • THE PE ANUT GROWE R /

Use The Rootworm Index June brings us a number of decisions and practices to protect peanuts from pests and to provide all of the nutrients needed to optimize yield.

Preventing thrips feeding on peanuts is important, especially in the upper VirginiaCarolina region. A lthough peanuts should be growing DAVID JORDAN well by now, timely applicaNorth Carolina State tions of acephate can still help University the crop move forward.

Extension Agronomist Weeds are a major issue in June, and some growers will be making their second round of postemergence sprays. Be as timely as possible with PPO herbicides and paraquat – don’t forget the 28-days-after-emergence restriction on paraquat.

Contact herbicides applied in a timely manner will improve control and minimize selection for resistance within weed populations. Higher spray volumes will also help increase coverage of weeds and subsequent control with contact herbicides. Slow down if you can.

Adding residuals to the mix (chloroacetamide herbicides) can increase the likelihood of obtaining season-long weed control. However, think some about tank mixtures before preparing the spray solution and adjust accordingly. There are a number of resources available to help you anticipate what will happen with a particular tank mixture.

In the Virginia-Carolina region, folks will be considering application of chlorpyrifos (Lorsban) for rootworms. Using the risk index developed by entomologists in the region can help avoid making unnecessary applications, saving expense and time, and the potential to flare spider mites, also expensive and time consuming, under dry conditions.

But too, we have some fields, especially under irrigation, The adult Southern Corn Rootworm is the Spotted Cucumber Beetle.

22 /

THE PE ANUT GROWE R • JUNE 2 017

that are vulnerable to rootworm damage and need treatment with insecticide.

For Virginia market types and jumbo runners, gypsum is especially important. Try not to make your applications too early. Let the canopy develop as much as possible. The calcium is needed mainly in July and August when peanut kernels and pods are forming.

Make a plan for leaf spot and stem rot, and remember, we are coming off of a challenging year that had a lot of defoliation in September and October. Think about the programs you used in 2016 — the actual products, their sequence and the interval between applications. If you had major problems last year, make sure you invest time in planning and implementing your disease control program to protect peanut foliage. This will give you the greatest flexibility in digging. While we are a long way from mid-September, we need to do things now to make sure the peanut crop is in great shape as we go into what has proven to be an unpredictable time over the past few years — harvest. Oh, don’t forget boron and manganese.

Don’t Forget Boron Most everyone has finished up planting or is almost done by now. Hopefully, the crop is up and off to a good start.

Scout around for those early season weed escapes and clean those up while the weeds are small and easy to control.

Then, it’s time to begin your fungicide program.

Disease control in peanuts KRIS BALKCOM Auburn University is one of the most expensive Agri-Program Associate input costs. Most everyone wants to make the highest yield and save money by reducing the number of sprays.

My advice is to start spraying peanuts for leaf spot when the crop is 35 to 40 days old. You don’t want to get behind and spend more money trying to play catch up while still suffering yield losses in the end.

Get the fungicides on the plants before disease gets established and with the recommended rate and volume of spray for good canopy coverage. There may be times that you are able to delay spraying later in the season that will wind up saving you a trip across the field, but the first spray is not the one to skip or delay.

Also don’t forget to add boron in those first few sprays to prevent hollow-heart. One last tip is to pull a pegging-zone soil sample about 2-3 inches deep in the row to ensure there is adequate calcium available for pod fill.

PE ANUTGROWE R .COM

PG0617 Layout_CF 11/13 template 5/16/17 9:42 AM Page 23

NAVIGATING the Marketplace

July 20-22, 2017 Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort • Miramar Beach, Florida For detailed conference information, registration and sponsorship opportunities, visit www.southernpeanutfarmers.org.

Room reservations at Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort can be made online or by calling 800-622-1038 and asking for the Southern Peanut Growers Conference rate.

Brought o to yyou ou by th the he ffa family amily farmers fa armers of the Southern Pean Peanut ut Farmer Fa Farmers armers FFederation ederation ra www.southernpeanutfarmers.org www.southernpeanutfar npeanutfarmers.org

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