They also will stack the hay in their customers' barns for 50 cents per bale. The market for perennial peanut hay is blooming for Richard Cone and his nephew Jeffery Hamrick. But with perennial peanuts, we know what our price will be because we set our price a year in advance. On their north Florida farm, Cone and his nephew Jeffery Hamrick planted their first stand of perennial peanuts in an old tobacco field in 1995 and sold their first hay crop in 1998. They have peanuts on 180 acres so far, and by sprigging about 50 acres each year, they're well on their way to establishing their goal of 500 acres.
Perennial peanuts are slow to establish.
The forage crop isn't known for its high yields. And it is susceptible to freeze damage if grown very far north of the Gulf Coast region. But once established, these forage peanuts are immune to most diseases and insects. The quality of the hay is every bit as good as alfalfa's. And demand seems unlimited, especially among horse customers.