Varieties: See variety performance results for more detailed variety information.

Virginia types - NC V11 is the current standard for Va. types. Perry and Gregory are the new varieties to use as on-farm challenge varieties on limited acreage.

NC -V11 - A high yielding, bright-hulled standard with some tolerance to tomato spotted wilt.

Gregory - This new variety has very large pods and the highest ELK available. Gregory also has moderate tomato spotted wilt resistance. Gregory has a high calcium requirement.

Perry - Perry is a new variety with high yield and a bright hull. This variety has a larger pod, higher % ELK, and % Fancy kernels than NC-V11. Perry also has CBR resistance (see disease control below).

Va 92R - A very high-yielding Virginia type under S. C. conditions. Va 92R also has more ELK’s than NC-V11, but a darker hull makes it less desirable for the in-shell market.

Runner types - Georgia Green is the current runner standard. AgraTech 201 is the best new challenger. It is similar to Ga. Green in maturity, has more vigorous growth and larger kernels, but less virus resistance. ViruGuard is another high-yielding runner variety. C99R has large pods and improved tomato spotted wilt resistance, but requires 150 days to mature and must be planted 1 May. Georgia HI-O/L combines high yield with a high oleic to linoleic oil ratio.

Land Rotation: Rotation into non-legumes (2 years out of peanuts or any other legume, 3 years better) is more important than ever, even with the new fungicides. Cylindrocladium blackrot (CBR) is increasing in S. C. This disease can only be controlled with a combination of rotation, Vapam fumigation, and varietal resistance.

Planting Date: Peanuts should be planted during the first two weeks of May. The first week of May is probably ideal in our area. Try to avoid April planting to reduce tomato spotted wilt threat, but we need all the season we can get to make high grades. See virus management below.

Seeding Rate: Plant 6 seed per row foot. A good stand and rapid ground cover helps control tomato spotted wilt virus.

Row Spacing: Conventional row spacing is 38", but a narrower row spacing or twin-rows (7 -9") help to reduce tomato spotted wilt virus by covering the ground more quickly. Twin rows increase yield.

Fertility: The target pH range for liming 5.8 - 6.2. Use Rhizobium inoculant on land that has been out of peanut production for 3 three years. Liquid in-furrow inoculant (Lift) or seed treatments are recommended since in-furrow granular inoculants usually stop-up in the delivery tube. Ammonium nitrate (375 lb/ac) or ammonium sulphate (600 lb/ac) can be used if the inoculant fails.

Irrigation: The peanut plant has the greatest need for water during podfill (about 60 - 100 DAP). During this period, a rule of thumb is to supply 1.5 inches per week minus whatever rainfall you get. Irrigation is critical in peanut production because it allows you to take advantage of other inputs. Irrigation is needed to water-in herbicides (e.g. Prowl, Sonalan, Dual, Cadre); fungicides (Abound, Folicur); and insecticide (Lorsban). Without rain or irrigation these inputs are much less effective. Irrigation also lowers soil temperatures, which reduces aflatoxin risk and allows for normal peg development. Irrigation makes the peanut plant much less susceptible to lesser cornstalk borer, corn earworm, and spider mites. A computer program ("Irrigator Pro") is available to schedule irrigation on peanut.

Weed Control: Timing is everything in weed control. Good weed control is a must to reduce harvest losses and maintain high grade (weeds at harvest increase loose shelled kernels). There are a lot of possible variations in a weed control program for the many combinations of problem weeds, but an example program would be: Prowl or Sonalan PPI; Dual PRE (watered in); Gramoxone + Basagran to kill the first flush of small weeds; then Cadre; possibly followed by 2,4-DB (Butyrac) for escape broadleaves or Select for escape grasses. See the weed response chart.

Note: Excessive rates of DNA herbicides (Prowl, Sonalan) in the pegging zone cause severe peg injury and yield reduction. Classic reduces yield of peanuts stressed by drought or insect damage, particularly on slow growing varieties such as Ga. Green.

The key to peanut disease control is preventing white mold and Rhizoctonia limbrot from getting started. Alternating different fungicide chemistries reduces the potential for developing resistant strains of soil and foliar diseases. Alternating fungicides also gives some insurance against the failure of one product alone. For example, Abound is a better preventative, but Folicur is a better curative product against white mold. Abound is a better limbrot material but Folicur is more economical against leafspot. It makes sense to use them both. The following schedules are gameplans or guidelines. Timing (DAP = days after planting) needs to be modified to account for opportunities to wash Folicur and Abound into the pegging zone if no irrigation is available.

* Bravo (chlorothalonil) or Tilt /Bravo for 1st and 2nd sprays in all three disease control options.

Note: Band application is more economical for the first 2 - 3 sprays. Do not use stickers or crop oil with Folicur or Abound. The goal is to wash fungicide into the soil. Spray Folicur and Abound before irrigation or rain when possible. Wait 24 - 48 hours to irrigate in order to also get full leafspot control benefits from Abound or Folicur application. Make sure an application of either Folicur or Abound occurs NO LATER THAN 60 DAP or July 15^th. White mold must be prevented, and hot weather acccelerates white mold growth.

CBR - Cylindrocladium black rot is caused by a soil fungus which occurs in the same fields from year to year, often in low spots. Rotation and fumigation (Vapam 10 gal/ac) can be used to control CBR. There is evidence that Folicur and Abound provide some CBR suppression. Among the Va. types; Perry, and NC 12C have some resistance to CBR.

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). This virus is transmitted to peanuts by thrips. TSWV reduces yield and causes shriveled, misshapen pods.

TSWV Control: "It’s all over when the planter leaves the field":

1. Varietal Resistance - Partially resistant varieties are Ga. Green, Viruguard, C99R, AT 201, NC-V11, and Gregory. C99R has the highest level of resistance currently on the market.

2. Planting Date "window" - Planting the first two weeks of May reduces TSWV. Sequential planting dates for green peanut production increase virus problems on later plantings.

3. Seeding Rate - plant 6 seeds per row ft. to accelerate ground cover.

4. Thimet In-furrow - Thimet 20 G (5 lb/ac) reduces TSWV injury.

5. Strip-tillage - surface residue reduces TSWV.

6. Twin-row planting - faster ground cover means less virus.

Thrips - use in-furrow Thimet 20G 5 lb/ac or Temik 15G 4 - 6 lb/ac .

Soil Insects - For lesser cornstalk borer suppression, apply Lorsban (13 lb/ac) at early pegging (about 45 DAP) to high risk fields (sandy soils under drought stress). At least 1/4" rain is needed within 10 days to benefit from Lorsban. Lorsban also reduces pod damage from wireworm and southern corn rootworm feeding. However, southern corn rootworm is seldom a problem in S. C. Unfortunately, Lorsban also causes outbreaks of corn earworm, granulate cutworm and spider mites later in the season. Irrigation is the best defense against lesser cornstalk borer.

Foliage caterpillars - Use a 3' shake cloth to look for corn earworms starting the last week of July and first week of August, especially on fields treated with Lorsban. Granulate cutworm is also a problem late in August where Lorsban is used. Fall armyworm can attack peanuts in outbreak years; from mid-August to early September, after the peak of corn earworm feeding. The treatment threshold is 4 worms per row ft. Rank-growing peanuts can tolerate 8 foliage feeding worms per row ft. Keep corn earworm off of stressed peanuts especially. Irrigation reduces damage from foliage worms. Georgia Green is more susceptible to corn earworm because it has a smaller canopy. Asana, Karate, or Warrior are recommended for earworm / cutworm control.

Spider mites - Irrigation is the best spider mite defense. Comite and Danitol are labeled for mite control. Lorsban increases mite risk.

Harvest Maturity: Peanuts typically mature in 130 to 150 days. Dig runner peanuts when 40% of the pods are dark brown to black using the hull scrape method. Dig Virginia peanuts when 65% of the pods have internal hull color and veins appear on the seed coat. Digging date is also dependant on weather, vine health, and acreage. The better our disease management, the better our ability to leave the crop in the ground to build grade, weight, and crop value. Maturity determines TMK. Crop value can easily increase by 6 % in 10 days - that’s all profit.

Digger, Combine Setup: Proper digger operation is crucial to avoiding harvest loss. Ground speed should match pto speed such that the vines flow smoothly up over the digger. Losing one pod per row ft. equals about 40 lb per acre yield loss on runners, or 90 lb per acre loss on large Virginia types. Combine setup is critical to maintaining grade. LSK’s are worth only worth 7 cents per lb, so each percent LSK costs you about $ 4.60 per ton in lost crop value.

Try to avoid having peanuts weather after digging since wetting and drying causes loose shelled kernels (LSK). LSKs are also correlated with aflatoxin contamination.

Summary: The key to high quality, two-ton plus peanuts is to make timely management decisions (and water of course). Pesticide inputs are over 40% of the total production budget. Poorly timed crop investments are often wasted ones.

Public Service Activities