The question many folks on the 2012 Georgia Peanut Tour wonder is, “How do farmers know when to dig their peanuts?” 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. 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 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. The Peanut Profile Board was created more than 30 years ago. View this video below of Max DeMott II, Mitchell County Extension Agent, as he discusses how farmers determine when it is time to dig their peanuts.
