Wait! Not so fast!

Even though March is National Peanut Month, local farmers are still waiting for the right conditions to begin planting their peanut crop. Recent research at the University of Georgia has cautioned farmers to wait until soil temperatures reach 68 F at the 4” depth. This work has shown that peanut seed germination can drop drastically at soil temperatures below 68 F.  The current recommendation is to allow the daily average soil temperature to stabilize above the 68 F mark for at least 3 consecutive days before planting.  Soil temperatures rise or fall very rapidly in the late winter and early spring. We will probably need to see daytime high temperatures in the middle 80s before conditions are right for planting.

Here is a graph of the average soil temperature at the  closest FAWN weather stations. The last bars were March 29th.

Average Soil Temperature at two FAWN stations