SPFF News & Resources

One of the most interesting, yet not yet clearly understood, parts of the new farm bill is the conversion of cotton base acres to generic base acres and what that means for peanut growers.

“We can convert generic cotton base into one of the covered programs commodities, peanuts being one of them,” said Dr. Marshall Lamb, research leader at the USDA-ARS National Peanut Research Laboratory. “When that came about, a lot of growers became more interested in possibly expanding peanut production to get the generic base payments.”

But Dr. Lamb thinks that’s a mistake because of the current oversupply situation. “Also, you have to produce the peanuts. When prices are low, you might get a higher payment from the additional generic acres, but you’re going to lose it producing the peanuts. When prices are high, you won’t get the payments but you might make money producing the peanuts,” he said. That’s why he says rotation is more important now than ever. Interview with Dr. Marshall Lamb, USDA-ARS

Dr. Stanley Fletcher with the National Center for Peanut Competitiveness (NCPC) gave the final presentation of the SPGC on managing farm base in the new farm bill.

I recorded Dr. Fletcher’s presentation and we should be getting his power point to post as well. He provides some very detailed and important information for farmers to consider so this is worth 30 minutes of your time to hear.

Presentation by Dr. Stanley Fletcher, NCPC

2014 SPGC photo album

When the University of Georgia began recognizing peanut farmers for high yields, it was originally called the “One Ton Club.” Now we’re getting closer to FOUR tons!

The overall state yield winner in the Georgia Peanut Achievement Awards was Philip Grimes from Tifton who hit a yield of 7,084 pounds, the highest ever. “We had a lot of rain last year and we had an aggressive spray program and the peanuts done real well,” he said. Being in the farming business for 40 years, Philip is not sure he ever expected to see yields this high. “We used to make two tons, now three and a half – it’s really amazing the genetics they have in the peanut varieties now,” he added. Interview with Philip Grimes, Georgia state yield winner

UGA Extension Weed Specialist Eric Prostko filled in as the awards emcee this year after John Beasley retired and moved to Auburn University after last year. “But we have a new agronomist coming on Scott Mumford, we stole from Clemson, and ultimately he’ll be doing some of these duties with the peanut team,” Eric said, noting that Scott Tubbs has been filling the agronomist role since John left at the end of last year.

Eric says the “One Ton Club” started back in the 1950s and the new record this year was amazing. “Now we’re over 7,000 and I can see these growers getting 8,000 at some point, especially with the new varieties that we’ll potentially have in the future,” he said. Interview with Eric Prostko, UGA Extension Weed Specialist

The Georgia Peanut Achievement Awards are sponsored by Syngenta, BASF – and now Bayer Crop Science as well.

2014 SPGC photo album

The winners of the 2014 Farm Press Peanut Profitability Awards once again included some amazing farmers who make up the best of the best.

This year’s honorees, pictured here in the front row, are:
Upper Southeast Region — Billy Bain, Dinwiddie, Va.
Southwest Region — Isaac, John and George Guenther, Gaines County, Texas
Lower Southeast Region — Owen Yoder, Orrville, Ala.

Owen just started growing peanuts in 2011 and he gives a lot of credit to the good Lord for his profitability in 2011. “I have to give credit to the timely rains and the good weather as the reasons why we did get the good yields,” he said. “Everything just kinda came together – good yields, good grades and low inputs is what made this happen.”

Owen is more than modest about his success in peanut farming, since profitability is about more than just good weather and good yields. As a diversified farmer, Owen also grows cotton, soybeans, grain sorghum, corn and wheat, and he decided to get into peanuts three years ago for rotation. “Any crop that you can add to your rotation complements another crop,” he said.

Interview with Owen Yoder, Peanut Profitability award winner

2014 SPGC photo album

The first general session at the 2014 Southern Peanut Growers Conference took a long term look at peanut markets and one word was mentioned by all the speakers – China.

George Lovatt with Lovatt and Rushing peanut brokerage company talked numbers, the most important of which for farmers are prices – which are down – and acreage, which is up. “Acreage is up 23% and the question is, is it driven by the new farm bill or is it driven by the market? I hope it’s the market,” he said. Exports are now a third of domestic peanut production and that’s why the Chinese market is so important. “Long term, China will be an enormous player in the world peanut market,” said Lovatt. Interview with George Lovatt, Lovatt & Rushing

Jeff Johnson, president of Birdsong Peanuts, agrees that China presents a great opportunity for the U.S. peanut industry. “China is really emphasizing rice, wheat and corn and putting less emphasis on peanuts,” he said. “So I think you’ll see a slight down trend in production every year and a slight increase in consumption, so it’s a good trend for us.”

There are challenges, however. “The biggest challenge is the 28% duty,” said Johnson. “That adds about $200 a ton to the price which just makes it prohibitive.” He adds that the industry is negotiating with China to make changes in that trade barrier, but he expects that will take some time. Interview with Jeff Johnson, Birdsong Peanuts

2014 SPGC photo album

Every year we get an update from the executive directors of each of the state peanut organizations involved in the Southern Peanut Growers Conference. We already heard from Florida, so here are the rest of the group.

The Alabama Peanut Producers Association is under new management this year, as Randy Griggs retired at the end of last year after leading the group for over 30 years. Jim Cravey, formally with the Alabama Farmers Federation, took over as interim director and has been taking care of business this year as they seek to fill the position on a permanent basis.

The most exciting news out of Alabama is the recent referendum. “The first time ever we’ve had a unanimous vote on anything!” Jim said. He added that the Alabama crop looks good but they think USDA’s latest acreage estimate is a little high.Interview with Jim Cravey, Alabama Peanut Producers

In Georgia, Don Koehler says the crop is like a Clint Eastwood movie – good, bad and ugly – but mostly good and acreage is up. “We were 590,000 acres in Georgia, a little over our normal of 560,000, said Don, adding that’s on the heels of the lowest acreage since 1924 last year.

Biggest issue for Georgia peanut growers is this year’s election for a new U.S. senator to replace agriculture’s very good friend Saxby Chambliss who is retiring. “The reality is we won’t replace Saxby,” Don said. “But whoever we have we hope they will seriously look at an appointment to the ag committee.”Interview with Don Koehler, Georgia Peanut Commission

Finally, Malcolm Broome with the Mississippi Peanut Growers says his producers feeling positive about how they fared in the 2014 Farm Bill, which helped some growers get a peanut base. “We’re a fairly new peanut growing state from that standpoint so the generic base with cotton has enabled some of our growers to have a base,” Malcolm said. “We were a big winner in the farm bill.” He notes that growers do need to make sure they know what needs to be done to set those bases up.

The only issue Malcolm says his growers are really concerned about right now is the proposed EPA Waters of the United States rule, particularly concerning Mississippi Delta area. The crop in Mississippi is looking pretty good despite late planting and Malcolm says they are keeping their fingers crossed it all matures on time. Interview with Malcolm Broome, Mississippi Peanut Growers

2014 SPGC photo album