March 14, 2024
Well it is almost Spring close enough: peanut acres are being contracted, temperatures are getting warmer and we are getting ready for the Oklahoma Peanut EXPO on the first day of Spring. I hope you can attend. We have a few more sponsors this year and are hoping for a good crowd at our new location at the Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford, OK. Let us know if you are coming at the email listed above and we will have a name tag for you. Information can be found by going to the Calendar of Events tab at the top of the page.
David's Blog
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April 29, 2024
Planting Time! Several peanut growers are planting today, and currently our soil temperatures look favorable (Hinton/Hydro Mesonet soil temps at the 4 inch depth for the past few days are on the chart below). However we are always concerned this time of year with cold rains moving in and slowing or disrupting germination and emergence. But, if you have lots of acres to plant you may need to get started.
Kaput Feral Hog Bait was approved by the Oklahoma Board of Agriculture last week, but I expect it to take some time for ODAFF to get all the details worked out - bottom line I would not expect it to be available in time for this season's emerging peanuts.
Hinton/Hydro Mesonet Soil Temperatures
June 10, 2024
It was a challenging planting season! Late April was warm but early May was wet and cool. It did affect stand counts a little and slowed some field emergence. Hopefully everyone got an adequate stand, but I did hear of some replanting and over-seeding in the row. And once again some replanting from feral hog damage. Some areas did receive good rainfall in May and now we are headed once again toward the heat dome temperatures. Let's hope for a break with some rain this coming summer.
March 22, 2024
A big thank you for our 2024 Oklahoma Peanut EXPO Sponsors, Presenters, and Peanut Growers who participated in the Oklahoma Peanut EXPO March 21st. We had a great event and I think everyone enjoyed the new location at the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford. It is a great facility and the staff was very helpful. If you would like to see the photos go to the Photo Gallery and take a gander. It was also great to meet the new National Peanut Board Chief Marketing Officer - Dena Malsom who attended the conference. I think everyone had a good time and also hopefully had time to tour the Museum.
April 5, 2024
Your 2023 Crop Information is Needed! There is still time to enroll in The American Peanut Council's Sustainability Initiative, but time is running out. The Oklahoma Peanut Commission is a founding sponsor of the Sustainability Initiative.
Here is my take on why you should participate. Anyone can set up a social media page. People with no agriculture knowledge or background or farming experience can go online and make up all kinds of false claims about how farming is not sustainable and causes serious environmental damage. They are not looking for facts they are after social media followers. Extreme comments can sometimes generate millions of followers which can mean lots of dollars for the writer of the social media page.
What is needed is factual data from farmers to combat the false information and peanuts have a great story to tell. Peanuts have the smallest carbon footprint of any other nut (a smaller footprint is good by the way). You can go online and complete the survey at:
APC Sustainable Initiative . Keep in mind that you are entering data from last year's crop. And for more information go to the Press Release page. PRESS RELEASES
Spring 2024
June 15, 2024
So what's going on with the peanut seed treatments? You might have noticed a different color to your seed treatment this year at planting time. Dr. Bennett shared an article from Peanut Grower from January 2022 where researchers are finding that our regular seed treatments had become resistant to Aspergillus Crown Rot. So changes have been made in the seed treatments being used; switching from Dynasty PD to Rancova V PD or to Trebuset. These new products are very effective and it is a good change. I have added a link here to the Peanut Grower article written by Amanda Huber.