Growing and Harvesting Peanuts                                                                                                    

Peanuts are the seeds of an annual legume which grows close to the ground and produces its fruit below the soil surface. U.S. peanuts are planted after the last frost in April or May when soil temperatures reach 65-70° Fahrenheit (20° Celsius). Preplanting tillage ensures a rich, well-prepared seedbed. Seeds are planted about two inches (five centimetres) deep, one every two to four inches (5-10 centimetres) in the Southeast, and four to six inches (10-15 centimetres) in the Virginia-Carolina area, in rows about three feet (one metre) apart. The row spacing is determined to a large extent by the type of planting and harvesting equipment utilized.

Peanuts may be cultivated up to three times, depending on the region, to control weeds and grasses. A climate with approximately 200 frost free days (175 for Spanish peanuts) is ideal for a good crop. Warm weather conditions, coupled with rich, sandy soil, will result in the appearance of peanut leaves 10-14 days after the first planting. Farmers generally follow a three year rotation pattern with cotton, corn or small grains planted on the same acreage in intervening years to prevent disease. In addition, many farmers are utilizing irrigation in an effort to reduce crop stress and thereby enhance opportunities for the production of high quality peanuts.

The peanut harvesting process occurs in two stages. Digging, the first stage, begins when about 70% of the pods have reached maturity. At optimum soil moisture, a digger proceeds along the rows of peanut plants driving a horizontal blade four to six inches (10-15 centimetres) under the soil. The digger loosens the plant and cuts the tap root. A shaker lifts the plant from the soil, gently shakes the soil from the peanuts and inverts the plant, exposing the pods to the sun in a windrow. The peanuts are now ready for the second phase of the harvest-curing. After curing in the field for 2 or 3 days, a combine separates the pods from the vines, placing the peanut pods into a hopper on the top of the machine. The vine is returned to the field to improve the soil fertility or baled into hay for livestock feed. Freshly dug peanuts are then placed into drying wagons for further curing with forced hot air slowly circulating through the wagons. In this final stage of the curing process, moisture content is reduced to 8-10% for safe storage.