Agricultural News
Oklahoma Peanut Harvest is Underway
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 08:45:09 CDT
Yields and Quality are Excellent
It's been a great growing season for the Oklahoma peanut crop and the results of that are showing up as harvesting is getting into full swing.
The benefits of higher than usual rainfall and summer days that never got too hot or too dry for blooming, pegging, and pod setting are obvious as the diggers and combines are steadily working their way across the fields. Even though all of Oklahoma's peanut acres are now irrigated, timely rains throughout the season provided a real boost to the crop. In many years, just maintaining the plants requires intense irrigation but that was never the case with the 2016 peanut crop.
September and early October weather was nearly perfect for maturing the crop. Both day and night time temperatures stayed within favorable ranges and the value of that good fortune is being seen as excellent yields of mature pods. A number of fields are coming in at around 5000 pounds per acre and grades from this crop should be outstanding. At this point, it appears that the crop could average 2 tons per acre but that will be contingent on growers being able to get the crop out without weather delays and possible losses.
In 2016, Oklahoma peanut growers increased their planted acres by 35% compared to the 2015 crop. Hopefully, the high quality of this crop will result in the demand for even more production in 2017. Oklahoma growers will increase peanut acres again if the market and contracts are there.
Here's hoping for bright, warm days as harvest is being completed over the next three weeks or so.
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