 says crop residue is more manageable with a shorter growing season. He also uses a burndown herbicide for over-wintered cover crops.
“I prefer to plant in a live crop and planting the cover in spring allows me to plant the peanuts and come in with Poast to kill the oats.”
He says one of his biggest weed problems with ro-till peanuts is volunteer plants from subsequent crops. “Peas are particularly bad to volunteer and cause trouble,” he says.
“Hard-seeded varieties are the worst. Guar also causes some volunteer problems.”
Mark Conklin, a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) area agronomist in the Caddo County area, says farmers here have tremendous challenges to control erosion.
“We have a lot of deep sand that, without proper management, shifts and wind moves it off fields. Crop residue management to put organic matter into the soil is critical to maintain soil health,” Conklin says.
“We have a lot of peanuts in the area and without proper soil management, conditions for cropland can unravel in a hurry. A two-inch rain can create serious erosion problems overnight.”
Conklin says most peanuts grown in the area are planted into a cover crop. “It's essential to protect seedlings from blowing sand.”
That Oklahoma wind offers significant challenges to peanut farmers who are adopting best management practices, including reduced-tillage systems, to protect their crops.
Erosion and economics also encourage Southeastern peanut growers to change the way they grow peanuts. “Conservation-tillage in peanuts is here to stay,” says Baldwin.