New high oleic peanut varieties are “where the industry may be heading,” says Jason Sarver, Mississippi State University assistant Extension/research professor.

He discussed variety trials being conducted in the state at the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation’s summer peanut commodity meeting. Varieties include

Georgia 06G and Georgia 09B, Tifguard, Florida 07, FloRun 107, TufRunner 727, TufRunner 511, Georgia 12Y, and Georgia 13M.

“The ones I’m really excited about are TufRunner 511, Georgia 12Y, and Georgia 13M,” Sarver says. “I think this is the way the industry is going over the next couple of years, especially with the 13M. It’s high oleic and it yielded equal to Georgia 12Y, and better than Georgia 06G in the University of Georgia’s variety trials last year.

“It hasn’t graded quite as well as O6G, but it’s pretty close. It’s smaller seeded than 12Y or 06G (770 or so seed per pound in last year’s trials), and if it shakes out with a good disease resistance package and continues to yield well, I could definitely see the industry going that way.

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“12Y is a high yielder, and is smaller seeded, which is what many of the manufacturers are wanting, and it’s looking to be a really good peanut. There is some concern about 12Y being even later than O6G, and if that’s the case, it would be something of a limitation in Mississippi. I think timing and the fact that it is not high-oleic are going to be the biggest issues with it.

“TufRunner 511 yields and grades well, with good disease resistance, especially for white mold, but it’s a very large seeded variety which could potentially be a limitation. I think these new high-oleic cultivars are where the future is going to be for the peanut industry.

Georgia 13M a promising variety

“I talked with Georgia Foundation Seed in the spring and they said there was a very limited supply of Georgia 13M seed available for seed increase this year. I feel very fortunate that we got some seed to experiment with, and we’re excited to see how it will perform this year. I have included it in most of my trials so when it does become more widely available, we’ll know how it’s going to perform for us.”

Georgia 06G, widely planted and a grower favorite, produces high yields, but is large seeded and isn’t high oleic — “not exactly what shellers and manufacturers are trending toward now,” he says. “In the high oleic varieties, Georgia 09B, Florida 07, and FloRun 107 have been planted a lot in the Delta. Shellers and manufacturers have been pushing these and offering some incentives to growers to plant them. We also have a handful of acres of TufRunner 727, another Florida variety that is high oleic.”

Variety trials this year are being conducted at six locations in Mississippi, he says, and studies are being done on planting dates, cultivars, and row patterns.

“We want to see how these new cultivars perform in different row patterns and get an idea of our prime planting date, and if they’re planted late — up to the first of June — what the yield potential is, and how they would stack up against other crops in the same field. We didn’t get our trials planted as early as we’d have liked because of the weather, but I feel we’ve got a pretty good range of dates.

Digging dates, row patterns

“We’re also looking at different digging dates for these new cultivars. For example, if you’ve been digging 06G at 135-140 days, how will that change if you transition to one of these newer varieties, and if you try to dig them at the same time, what would you potentially lose in terms of yield and grade?”

How the new cultivars perform in different row patterns is also being studied, Sarver says. “A question that comes up all the time: Is it worth investing in another planter to change to a twin-row pattern (particularly for a variety like 12Y, which has abundant vine growth)?

“A lot of twin-row work has been done in Georgia. Their studies show that, in most cases, twin rows will either have an advantage over single rows, or will be equal — it’s very seldom there is an advantage for single rows. I like twin rows and getting faster canopy closure, particularly in a hot, dry year. They can hold moisture and regulate temperature better within the canopy.

“Rapid vine growth might negate some of that advantage, but from what I’ve seen in my trials, I think the quicker canopy closure makes a difference.”

Other work under way in Mississippi, Sarver says, includes replicated trials on Apogee, a growth regulator. “I’ve had a lot of questions about this product, and we want to see how it performs.” He also has long-term rotation trials, with different rotation lengths, with and without soybeans, to determine how rotation affects disease pressure, yield, and grade.