A wet and relatively mild summer has greatly helped the peanut crop in West Texas.
Seminole farmer Greg Hughes tells Tom Nicolette on the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network this year’s crop is an improvement over last year’s.
“They look pretty good. I think there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be above average. I think they’re in the 5,000-pound-plus category (per acre). Some people are harvesting Virginias right now. They dug them and then they got a big rain on them last week, so they’re preparing to start combining,” Hughes said. “The runners are still a little bit off. They probably need another 10 days to two weeks before they’re ready.”
Gaines County peanut farmers usually average 3,900 to 4,500 pounds per acre.
“We had a great spring with lots of rain and lots of humidity. June didn’t get near as hot as normal,” Nicolette said.
Diggers and combines are ready in Gaines County. Farmers are simply waiting for the peanuts to be ready as well.
“We got enough rain to hold them until time to dig. We’ll just put a bit of water on them and dig them. Then we’ll go to work.”
Hear the full report on Focus on Agriculture here: http://bit.ly/1MYSdgG.