Cool weather late affects early planting decisions, crop acreages

摘要

The U.S. peanut industry seems to be in a state of flux, waiting for markets to signal the next move. Farmers are poised to plant another peanut crop after Old Man Winter delivered water and filled reserves tor a change, especially in the Southeast and Virginia-Carolina states. The Southwest continues to suffer, but some rain has come to the region. There are so many "issues" involving the market that a farmer has trouble getting his head around them all. US DA predicted acres to be down 27 percent over last year to 1,190,000 acres. Peanut specialists estimated a 31.4 percent decline in acres planted to peanuts. The big question is will the new varieties "do it again" and load the wagons with a bumper crop. The five-year average yield is 3,253 pounds per acre, but 2012 average yield was 4,192 pounds per acre. That is a significant difference. The issue remains how many acres to plant and what to expect in yield.