The Texas peanut crop has potential for “well above average yields, if we get favorable fall weather,” says Texas AgriLife Extension plant pathologist Jason Woodward, Lubbock.

“The crop is doing well, though a little late,” Woodward says. Cool, overcast weather early delayed maturity a bit, “but peanuts are not as late as cotton.”

Those cool, humid conditions also created a favorable environment for disease development and Woodward says leafspot has come on in some fields earlier than usual. “It’s not enough to get your blood pressure up, but it has been a concern. Growers have already begun to apply some fungicides and are preparing to treat peanuts for pod rot infections.”

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He says Bravo remains a viable option for leafspot control and some producers may use tebuconazole, an inexpensive but effective fungicide.

Abound is the standard for pod rot and the active ingredient in the fungicide will soon be available in generic formulations. That should happen within the next few months, making generics available late this season and certainly for next year, Woodward says.

“A low price fungicide option is good for competition,” he says. Disease control will be “more affordable with the generics coming in.”

He says the season has been unusual with wet, cool conditions early that favored disease pressure.

Texas peanut producers have about 125,000 acres, maybe a little less, planted, Woodward says. “Overall, we’re looking at a good year.”

He says rainfall has been spotty across the region but has been more abundant than in the last few years.