Besides limited irrigation, another obstacle in Comanche County is the plant disease problems that have developed from so many years of being a traditional peanut-growing area year after year. As he has diversified his farming in recent years, Beaty has tried just about everything as a rotation crop with peanuts. The De Leon area is just slightly more distant from the dairies than Dublin or Stephenville in Erath County, for example. That makes hauling the silage to the dairy market a bit more expensive. But it is still an option, Beaty says.
Wheat is another alternative crop that many farmers here are attempting to rotate with peanuts.
Melons are still another limited option. But 50 acres is a bunch of melons. Sesame seed production is yet one more rotation possibility. Grain sorghum is an option for many peanut producers. That's likely the overall rotation trend this year.