May 21, 2013
For most growers in the tri-state area, it looks like the peanut crop is doing really well.
"When we look at the size crop and the yield potential that we have, we're pretty excited and feel good about what we have out in the field."
"It looks like the yields are gonna be pretty good. We haven't started yet. We were just checking ours this morning to see what the maturity was like. But it looks like we are about ten to fourteen days away from harvesting."
And while great yields are something for growers to be proud of…
Farmers are going nuts over the fact that they won't get paid even half of what they got for last year's crop.
"The price of peanuts really got high so a lot of people got interested in planting them because of the high commodity prices, well sometimes that'll turn around and bite you. So right now we have a lot of acreage and a really good crop so normally that's over-supply. That's basic supply-demand."
Last year, peanuts sold for as much as one thousand dollars per ton.
This year however, the crop is projected to only go for around 350 dollars.
"When you look at the commodity price, that's probably the biggest downside of the peanuts right now."
"Unfortunately it looks like this crop isn't going to be very valuable to us as growers so we're a little concerned. We're not sure how it's gonna play out yet."
"With that being said, always when you got a lot of something, you can't get much for it."
Harvesting is expected to begin in a few days for most farmers in the Wiregrass.
