Watch A Good Quality Crop Is Needed In 2020
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OVID-19 is bringing more stress and worry to the agriculture picture. If there is a positive in this, it is that demand for peanuts and peanut butter will increase as more people are eating at home. The easy-to-use, nutritious, go-to food makes an ideal meal or snack for families staying at home instead of sending the kids to school and going to work. Food banks are also depleted of resources, and empty store shelves abound. Any surplus will likely be taken up, and more will be needed. Like everyone, peanut farmers are concerned about the coronavirus pandemic and how will it influence the coming crop year, their businesses in general, the total economy and even their family’s health. Farmers were already entering a stressful planting season with low commodity prices, and now they have to contend with the challenges associated with a global pandemic. While doctors and nurses are on the front lines saving lives of those with COVID-19, farmers are working to ensure that our world still has food to eat. Lack Of Succession Plans Another worry? Approximately 69% of producers do not have a backup plan to continue current farming operations if they get sick, much less a succession plan if something catastrophic were to occur. Most farms are still single-proprietor or have few family members or employees as part of the operation. Yet, the current situation has peanut butter demand up, store shelves depleted, and some manufacturers have had to make the decision to place their customers on allocation. Snack nuts have seen a rise in demand as well. There is still a disconnect between the farmer market and the shelled peanut
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THE PEANUT GROWER • MAY 2020
J. Tyron Spearman Contributing Editor, The Peanut Grower
Leading Marketing Indicators (April 2, 2020) 2020 Est. Acreage (+ 1%) ................................................. 1,391,700 acres 2020 Est. Production (acres x 3,949 lbs/A) ....................... 2,748,043 tons 2019 Market Loan ............................................................. 2,340,990 tons 2019 Loan Redemptions ....................................................... 839,244 tons 2019-20 Domestic Usage (8 Mo.) .......................................... Up + 4.3% 2019-20 Exports (7 Mo) .......................................................... Up + 24.1% NATIONAL POSTED PRICE (per ton) Runners – $424.13; Spanish – $416.70; Valencia and Virginias – $430.94
market. The Southeast’s hot, dry conditions during late season and harvest in 2019 has led to one of the poorest quality crops on record. Aflatoxin and damage are causing failure rates on approximately one-third of lots. Market Tightening The market has increased from the 40 cents to the mid-80 cents range per pound for Southeast runners. Offers for tight specifications are extremely difficult to obtain. Blanched jumbos have moved from the high 50 cents at harvest time to mid- to upper-90 cents today. One sheller announced an allocation on current crop contracts. But that’s farming…deliver to the contract and the next owner delivers to their agreed contract as well. Most of the peanuts were sold earlier to manufacturers at 45 to 46 cents per pound. With the 2019 crop in the warehouse, it’s a sheller problem meeting grade. What about the 2020 peanut crop? Despite coronavirus, farmers should be optimistic. Peanuts are a food product that the world is demanding. Again, the
peanut farmer is on the front lines for ensuring a safe, affordable food supply. Some Acreage Shifts Expected The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released their prospective plantings report and projected 1.529 million acres in peanuts. This would be a 7% increase over 2019. Georgia is projected to plant 740,000 acres, a 10% increase over 2019. Assuming average yields, the result is a total U.S. crop of nearly 3 million farmer-stock tons. Cotton, the largest competitor for peanut acres, is projected to be 13.7 million acres or down less than 1% from last year. However, farmers were surveyed in early March before much was known about how long the economy would be shut down. More peanuts and less cotton will probably be planted than was indicated by the USDA estimate. With cotton prices as low as 50 cents per pound and the overall commodity markets so low, peanuts at $400 or $425 are still the most attractive option for Southeast growers. PEANUTGROWER.COM
