College Station, Texas
August 30, 2005
While this year's peanut crop is thriving,
overproduction from last year has Texas growers concerned about
price, according to Texas
Cooperative Extension.
"The large crop in 2004 and the significant increase in acreage
in Georgia created a situation that has peanut prices
suppressed," said Dr. Charles Simpson, professor emeritus at the
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Stephenville.
Shelly Nutt, executive director of the Texas Peanut Producers
Board, agrees.
"We have a year's supply of peanuts sitting in storage right
now," she said. "It's the same problem cotton and corn producers
face year in and year out – overproduction and oversupply."
Texas remains second to Georgia for peanut production in the
United States, Nutt said, and this year will produce yet another
large crop.
"Quality will be excellent and yield will be phenomenal," she
said.
Jose Pena, Extension economist from Uvalde, said early estimates
of Texas peanut production are 912 million pounds. That is a 17.
6 percent increase from last year's 775.5 million pounds
produced. The increased estimate is based on an increase mostly
in average yields and an increase in acres.
This year's average yields have increased to 3,800 pounds per
acre from 3,300 pounds per acre in 2004. And acres for harvest
increased to 240,000 acres from 235,000 acres last year, Pena
said.
"Dry weather during planting time with good sub-soil moisture
allowed (for) good plant stands," he said. "As the crop started
to peg, some rains in late July improved the yield potential."
Harvest in Southwest Texas is expected to begin in mid-October
and last through November in West Texas, Pena said.
The following livestock, crop and weather
conditions were reported by Extension districts:
PANHANDLE: Soil moisture is short to adequate.
Temperatures were below average. Isolated thunderstorms were
reported. Corn was rated fair to good. Dent stage was reached in
70 percent of the fields. Silage harvest was under way. Spider
mites were a problem in late-maturing fields. Cotton was in fair
to good condition; some bolls were open. Bollworm activity
continued. Peanuts were rated fair to good. Sixty-five percent
of the sorghum fields were headed. Fall armyworms caused
leaf-feeding damage. Soybeans were rated fair to good. A few
wheat fields were planted. Recent rains improved rangeland
conditions. Cattle were in good condition.
SOUTH PLAINS: Soil moisture is adequate. Hot and humid
conditions were reported. Some areas received 10 inches of rain.
Moderate to severe hail damage was reported. Cotton was in good
condition. Yield potential looked very good. Corn was in good to
excellent condition. The crop started to dry down as many fields
reached maturity. Harvest will begin mid-September. Peanuts were
in good condition. Pastures and rangelands were in fair to good
condition. Native pastures improved. Lake and stock tank levels
increased. Cattle were in good condition. Some heifers were fed
supplements.
ROLLING PLAINS: Soil moisture is adequate. Producers
prepared seed beds for wheat planting. Cotton blooms began to
set into bolls. Some fields were sprayed for weeds, and others
kicked off bolls and started to grow again. Cattle conditions
improved. Supplemental feeding continued. Wheat producers
applied fertilizer to fields. Livestock tanks were refilled.
Mosquito populations soared.
NORTH: Soil moisture is very short to adequate. Corn,
cotton, peanuts and rangelands were rated very poor to fair.
Corn fields were 60 percent harvested. Cotton bolls were
opening. Very little forage was baled. Rice and sorghum were in
fair condition. Sorghum was maturing. Soybeans were rated very
poor to good; 60 percent of fields were setting pods. Armyworm
infestations were heavy. Livestock producers worried over lack
of water for animals. Sweet potatoes were harvested.
EAST TEXAS: Soil moisture is short. Very hot temperatures
were reported. Pastures were very short and hay production was
almost non-existent. Armyworm infestations were reported. Some
producers prepared for winter pasture planting. Cattle were
heavily marketed. Pecans were rated fair to good. Insect
pressure was moderate to heavy.
FAR WEST: Soil moisture is very short to adequate.
Rainfall was reported. Warmer temperatures benefited cotton
production. Bolls were setting. Pastures, rangeland and
livestock were rated very poor to good. Livestock producers
prepared for fall work and stocker cattle shipping.
WEST CENTRAL: Soil moisture is adequate to surplus. High
temperatures were reported. Mosquitoes were a problem due to wet
conditions. Cotton looked very good. Some producers sprayed for
bollworms. Fields were prepared for fall planting as they dried
out. Hay cutting and baling continued. Rangelands and pastures
were green and in good condition. Livestock were in fair to good
condition. Livestock sales held steady. Pecans looked promising.
Weevil trap monitoring and pecan weevil spraying continued.
CENTRAL: Soil moisture is short. Wind and high
temperatures dried out soils. Corn and grain sorghum harvest
wound down. Reported corn yields were fair. Armyworms were
reported across the district. Pecan weevils were out. Stocker
operations prepared to plant winter pastures.
SOUTHEAST: Soil moisture is short. High wind and
scattered showers were reported. Webworms were a problem for
pecan producers. Armyworms affected forage crops; producers
began spraying insecticides. Cattle prices were down; a surge in
calf populations at markets is expected. Hay was baled. Soybeans
and corn was harvested.
SOUTHWEST: Soil moisture is very short. The area may have
gone too long without rain to produce sufficient over-wintering
forage. Cotton harvest continued; good yields and weak markets
were reported. Peanuts and fall vegetables made good progress
under heavy irrigation. Pecan trees continued to drop pecans due
to drought and heat stress. Peach harvest was complete. Grape
harvest gained momentum.
COASTAL BEND: Soil moisture is short. Dry, hot weather
was reported. Cotton and rice harvest wound down. Cotton yields
were fair. Irrigated fields produced better-than-expected
yields. Deep tilling and stalk destruction were reported.
Soybean harvest continued. Land was prepped for fall gardens.
Pastures were dry. Livestock were heat stressed. Cattle prices
dropped. Some producers made hay, but pastures needed rain.
SOUTH: Soil moisture is very short. Scattered showers
hampered field operations. Cotton harvest wound down. Rangelands
and pastures showed signs of heat and drought stress.
Supplemental feeding continued. |