More Profit From Your Peanut Crop

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Peanut Harvest:  A lot of hard work and effort goes into raising a profitable  peanut crop. At harvest, every pod counts. There are two general areas where losses occur:  at digging and combining.

Peanuts dug up in the field.

Digger losses occur when the peanuts are being lifted and then shaken as they go up the chain. These losses are generally seen on top of the ground. Sharp, properly pitched blades will slide beneath the plants, clip the roots just beneath the pods ,slide the vines up the rods and feed the vines to the shaker chain. Ground speed also affects pod loss. Generally ground speeds between 2 and 3 mph show the least pod loss. Proper synchronization between the ground speed and the shaker speed is essential to prevent dragging pods off. Work from Clemson University shows that with heavy vines a shaker speed 75-80% of the ground speed is best, in lighter vines shaker speed is  best about equal to ground speed. You can calculate your shaker speed in mph with the decision aid found here.

Trailers of harvested peanuts.

Combine losses occur (1) when the pods are not fully removed from the vines, (2) with aggressive action of the stripper fingers and cylinder speeds and (3) with excessive wind speed  used to propel the pods into the basket. Limiting losses begins with harvesting at the correct moisture. Harvesting when the vines are at 18-20% moisture is generally optimal. With higher moisture vines are tougher and drying costs rise. Waiting for the moisture to dry to 10% risks  more shelling or breaking pods, creating loose shell kernels  (LSKs) and splits. LSKs are sold for 7 cents per pound vs the typical contract rate of 25 cent per pound. There is no penalty for sound splits up to 4%  of the total grade. After that growers are penalized for each additional percentage. Field conditions change during the day as the vines continue to dry down. Take time to check behind the combine to evaluate the picker losses. Check LSK and split losses with the grade sheet. Often Buying Point Managers will alert growers of excessive LSK and splits.