Based on farmer interviews, USDA is projecting 2012 peanut production at 5.29 billion pounds (2,646,450 tons), a 46 percent increase from last year.

Area for harvest is expected to total 1.49 million acres, which is unchanged from June, but 35 percent higher than in 2011.

With consideration of the conditions as of Aug. 1, average yield for the United States is forecast at 3,562 pounds per acre, up 249 pounds from 2011.

Record high yields are expected in Georgia and Florida, and yields will tie record highs in North Carolina and Oklahoma, if realized.

The largest yield increases from last year are predicted in Oklahoma and Texas, where drought conditions in 2011 significantly reduced crop potential. Yields in Oklahoma and Texas are expected to increase 800 pounds and 1,200 pounds, respectively.

As of July 29, sixty-nine percent of the United States peanut crop was rated in good to excellent condition, compared with 43 percent the same time last year.

Pegging was at 85 percent, 9 percentage points ahead of last year and 5 percentage points ahead of the 5-year average