But they're battling a crop insurance deadline of May 25. To be eligible, insured acres must be planted on or before May 25. In general, he says it's the area's larger growers who have more acres left to plant. But crop insurance is not the growers' only worry. Herbicides applied at planting need soil moisture to activate and control weeds.
Dry weather allows weeds to get a head start on young peanut plants.
Peanuts will not germinate uniformly in a dry field, making the young plants more vulnerable to tomato spotted wilt virus, a devastating disease with no effective control method. The dry weather also will leave peanut seedlings vulnerable to a variety of seedling diseases that can wipe out a field. Finally, peanuts that emerge as poor or spotty stands often do not produce the same yields as those from healthy, uniform stands. That will cost the farmer money at the end of the season when he has less product to take to market. In spite of the dry weather, Hartzog says there are some good stands of peanuts in the area.