Wilson Faircloth, agronomist with the USDA-ARS National Peanut Research Lab
When is the right time to dig? Wilson Faircloth, agronomist with the National Peanut Research Lab in Dawson, Ga., says when farmers can reach maximum yield. In the last 20 days of the production season peanuts gain in yield and some put on 30 percent of their yield in the last two to three weeks of the growing season. Farmers utilize the hull scrape method and peanut profile board to determine when to dig and the resulting yield and grade means money to farmers. Farmers also have to look at the date the peanuts were planted and count the days to maturity. According to Faircloth, farmers can’t just ride by their fields to know when to dig and they can’t put the peanuts back in the ground after digging. Peanuts are an indeterminate crop and some fields planted on the same date may mature at different times based on cultivar selection, soil type or weather patterns. Faircloth says the profile board has some faults and can be time consuming so he is looking into research at the lab that would be more reliable and quicker. The profile board was created more than 30 years ago and there have been numerous cultivars developed since then. Faircloth is looking at a Growing Degree Day Model similar to what cotton producers’ use. Degree days are a measure of the heat units that a plant receives. Growers in Georgia can use the http://www.georgiaweather.net/ to determine temperature for their area and the growing degree days. Faircloth is also looking into using a digital camera, scanner and computer to evaluate the peanuts when determining the digging date. So, there may be new avenues for farmers to consider within the next few years in determining the right time to dig in order to achieve optimum yield and grade.