Category: Farmer Spotlight

Around the state, peanut farmers are anticipating the season ahead. Planting is slowly coming to an end and farmers are now praying for rain and weather that cooperates. Texas is estimated to plant about 200,000 acres of peanuts this year. Although this is down from last year, producers are staying optimistic and farmers are preparing for a safe and profitable year.

Texas Peanut Producers talked to farmers across the state to get an update on rain conditions, growth stages and overall planting challenges in four main regions.

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SOUTH TEXAS: BRETT

We have had little to no rain in the last 30 days. We are pre-watering to plant and watering to get peanuts up. We have peanuts that are 35 days old to peanuts that are not planted yet. South Texas is about 70% planted . We are in desperate need of rain as it is hard to keep water going on multiple crops under one well.

CENTRAL TEXAS: BRADLEY

Rainfall has been plentiful for peanuts so far. No [need for] irrigation yet. The growth stage is still early.  Peanuts planted in late May received 5-6 inches of rain after planting but are beginning to catch up. Peanuts planted after rainfall in June are growing fast with heat and abundant moisture.

Challenges have been too much rain on May planted peanuts and with the rain peanuts take longer to germinate and that means more days to worry about feral hogs getting into fields.  Personally, I had success keeping hogs out of fields but I know other farmers in the area were not so fortunate.

WEST TEXAS: MASON

As has been the case across most of the western south plains, the rains prior to June 25th had been spotty at best. In most cases irrigated land has an average start despite the dry hot and windy conditions throughout late May and June.

As of now, the peanut crop is on track for the time of year and we are being to see the first few flowers start to show. Across the board this has been one of the more challenging years to establish a crop that I can remember.

Cool conditions in late April we the predominant problem with early planting and as we moved into May there were some stand issues around where moisture was lacking and pre-watering was not done. Overall, at this time we have just received our first broad rain since March. Irrigated crops are fair to good and dry-land crops are all over the board but mostly either failed out or pore stand. There are a few exceptions where farms were under an isolated storm, however most farmers are trying to decide the best route to take from here on out.

PANHANDLE: MICHAEL

Some areas have received rainfall, but in other places there has been little to no rain.  Peanuts are blooming and looking great! Our planting season went smooth! Some of the farmers in our area have had to replant cotton twice now due to hail.  Other than that most of our area could use a rain!

Overall, Texas peanut farmers are seeing a steady growth rate and every region could use some rain! For more updates, follow Texas Peanut Producers on Twitter and Instagram. If you are a farmer and would like to send updates or photos of your peanut crop, email them to lindsay@texaspeanutboard..com

(all photos taken by Lindsay Hamer in Brownfield, Texas)

Farming life is one that takes passion and patience. Those who grew up farming know that it is a lifestyle, not just a career. Waking up before dawn, and tending to the crops until well after the sun goes down is something these farmers know well. Peanut farmers are no exception to this idea. Kathy and Monty Henson both know the life of farming. They know that it is not just a career but it is instead, their passion.

“Tough times call for tough people, farming is about helping each other out. When someone is sick or needs to leave town, we help them. You won’t be able to make every tee ball game, but those moments are important and we are a like a family…we work when we help each other,” said Kathy Henson.

Kathy and Monty have been farming as a team and growing peanuts since 1997. They said raising a family in a farming lifestyle can teach children characteristics that are important for their future. Not only do they know the basics of work ethic and discipline, but as Kathy said about her children, “They know how much their jeans cost and what it took to make them.”

The next generations are going to be the ones to stand up for agriculture and if they know how hard farmers work, from watching mom and dad put their heart into the soil, it makes their voice so much louder.

“When you’re working with peanuts, every step is important. You have to take it slow and go through your check list to make sure you don’t miss a single part of the process,” said Monty.

Monty said if you miss a watering or are late in weed protection, the whole crop could suffer making the hours of hard work produce nothing. Farming requires patience and adaptability; especially in the West Texas region where the weather is unpredictable.

There has also been flooding in the East Texas regions that caused some farmers to get a late start on planting or required farmers to pray for sunshine to get the water out of their fields. These factors, along with unpredictability of Mother Nature, make farming a practice that one must be passionate about. If one is not wholeheartedly dedicated to the crop, it could be easy to give up after hail destroys a cotton field or a windstorm cracks the soil.

Farmers like Kathy and Monty put their heart into what they do and work every day for a crop that feeds people all over the world. Farmers plant hundreds of acres of crops so that there will be peanut butter on our sandwiches. We sometimes take for granted the passion and dedication these men and women put in to making food, clothes, and items we use every day, all while using limited resources. Farmers are the backbone of this country and don’t just farm for a career, they farm because it is a way of living, and a way of building a family.

As Paul Harvey said, “It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed, and brake, and disk, and plow, and plant, and tie the fleece and strain the milk, . Somebody who’d bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh and then reply with smiling eyes when his son says that he wants to spend his life doing what Dad does. “So God made a farmer.””