Despite an estimated 58 percent drop in planned peanut acres in Mississippi this year, the manager of the Leflore County Clint Williams Co. buying point says the impact will be more limited.
In 2012, the buying point’s first year of operations, 12,000 acres of peanuts were contracted for by the Madill, Okla.-based company.
This time, “we’re not looking to be down that much,” John Doty Porter said. “It will probably be a drop to about 7,000 or 8,000 acres.”
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Prospective Plantings Report, Mississippi peanut acres are forecast to drop from 52,000 in 2012 to 22,000 this year.
The only peanut-producing state where peanut acreage is expected to increase is Oklahoma, where Clint Williams Co. is based.
Porter said while increases in cotton prices might have lured away some farmers, time is running out for corn farmers who are having to wait for fields to dry before they can begin planting.
Today’s rough weather forecast, with the potential of 2 to 4 inches of additional rain, makes planting peanuts a more attractive option, he said.
“If it rains, it will be too late” for corn planting this year, Porter said.
Peanuts, like cotton, are typically planted in late April and early May.
Jerry Singleton, an agent with the Leflore County Extension Service, said farmers have cut back on peanut acreage since the prices for the commodity have tapered off by a third from 2012.
He said a sizable number of corn acres in the county have yet to be planted. Under ideal conditions, the corn crop should be between 40 and 60 percent planted at this point, Singleton said.
Farmers contract for peanuts in advance, so contracts will have to be signed quickly in the coming days, Singleton said.
“You better have sold them before you plant them,” he said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
