Please join us for a North Florida tradition at the I.C. Terry Farm as we prepare for a safe and bountiful peanut harvest. Dr. Barry Tillman, Peanut Breeder from University of Florida will discuss peanut cultivars, and Tyron Spearman, of the National Peanut Buying Points Association will give a Peanut Market Update. University of Georgia Faculty including Drs. Monfort and Abney will share observations of the 2015 crop. Please join us for a sponsored meal following the crop tour.

In spite of reduced prices, peanut farmers were not bashful about their peanut acres in 2015. With high fixed payments and few other competitive crop options, we still see a large number of planted acres in spite of market signals for reduced plantings. Some of this is driven by established crop rotations, some is simply driven by cash flow needs to manage a business. Our local crop is excellent this season, with consistent, timely rainfall throughout the season. I think some farms will harvest their highest average yield yet, with good conditions farm-wide. Others made some outstanding farm average yields the past couple years and will be close, but not quite there. Farm Service Agency has released the planted acres for the 2015 crop. North Central Florida farmers planted about 68,000 acres of a total 177,000 acres in Florida. Regional acreage was dominated by large plantings in Levy, Madison, and Gilchrist counties this year.