Arkansas peanut crop could set yield records in 2023

Southern blight was an issue for Arkansas peanut growers this year but if projections hold, it will be the best harvest in a decade.

The peanut crop got off to a fast start during May, said Travis Faske, extension plant pathologist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

“Probably 80% of our peanuts were planted within the first couple weeks of May,” he said. “We had great temperatures, and after planting we had good, frequent rain. That rain allowed our herbicides to get activated, leading to relatively clean fields.”

Rains in July caused an earlier-than-usual debut for southern blight, the most common disease in Arkansas peanuts.

“Northeast Arkansas had some good rains in July, which prevented farmers from being able to apply fungicides to protect the crop,” Faske said. “So, in early August southern blight was more of an issue than previous years. But this did not limit the good yields that we saw.”

Yields might be record-setting. Faske expects this year’s peanut crop to surpass the 2017 record of 5,288 pounds per acre.

“For the past three years, we’ve hovered around 4,800 to 5,000 pounds per acre. This year, we are likely to be well over 5,300 pounds per acre, making it the best yield on record for the past 10 years,” Faske said. “I think we will surpass the last leading statewide average set back in 2017.”

Higher than average yield wasn’t the only good news for Arkansas peanut growers. Dry conditions allowed for a quick harvest, similar to 2022.

“As far as getting the peanuts out, from start to finish this was one of the fastest harvests we’ve seen in a long time, aside from last year.” Faske said. “In 2022 and 2023, almost all fields were done by Halloween, whereas typically harvest can extend to mid-November.”

With high yield and high demand, Faske believes there will be a push to add peanut acres in Arkansas in 2024.

Last year, Arkansas growers produced 166.4 million pounds of peanuts on 32,000 acres. The value of Arkansas’ peanut crop is more than $42 million. Runner peanuts – the type used in peanut butter – account for almost 100% of the state’s peanut crop. These varieties consistently have high yields and remain in high demand.

Peanut acreage in Arkansas has fluctuated over the past decade, dipping from about 18,000 acres in 2012 to about 10,000 acres in 2014, then steadily climbing since. In Arkansas, the leading peanut counties include Mississippi and Craighead counties, with smaller acreages in Greene, Lee, St. Francis and other counties in the Delta region.

Arkansas remains one of the most extreme ranges to grow peanuts. The crop needs about five months of steady, relatively hot weather to flourish. It can turn cold in the Delta during October and that can be a problem.

High peanut volume states such as Texas, Georgia, and Oklahoma have been hit with disease, drought, and a lack of irrigation in recent years which has forced several peanut companies to look for other states to grow the crop.