Economic Analysis of Seeding Rate and Seed Cost of Recently Released Peanut Cultivars.

Since 2006, there have been five new runner market-type peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars released for production in the southeastern United States. Four of these new cultivars have a seed size, or count per pound, that is considerably larger than ‘Georgia Green’, the standard cultivar the past 12 years. Georgia Green has averaged 825 to 850 seed per pound. Three of the recently released cultivars, ‘Georgia-06G’, ‘Florida-07’, and ‘Tifguard’, average approximately 650 seed per pound. The University of Georgia recommendation for seeding rate for peanut is six seed per foot of row. At that seed per row-foot rate, pounds of seed planted per acre is approximately 105 for Georgia Green and 135 for the other three large-seeded runner cultivars. In 2007 seed cost per pound was $0.60. In 2008 the seed cost was approximately $0.85. In 2009 the seed cost was $0.75. In 2008, planting Georgia-06G, Florida-07, or Tifguard cost a producer approximately $114 per acre compared to $89 per acre for Georgia Green. The value per ton producers received in 2008 was $500, or $0.25 per pound. Producers would have had to produced 100 pounds per acre in yield more on those three cultivars compared to Georgia Green to compensate for the difference in seed cost at planting.