Farmer Insights on Harvesting Peanut: A Survey from the Virginia-Carolina Region of the United States

Peanut harvest is a two-step process that requires digging pods and inverting vines and threshing after pods and vines have dried for an adequate amount time. Weather patterns, including temperature and soil moisture, can affect the pod maturation process. Additionally, inclement weather, soil moisture conditions, farm logistics, balance of equipment and acreage, plant health and disease incidence, and equipment setting and operation can affect harvest efficiency and yield. A survey of 166 farmers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, representing 25% of acreage, was administered to determine their perceptions of challenges they face at harvest and how they address those challenges. The majority of growers indicated that they would dig pods and invert vines prior to a storm. Peanut maturity was as important as soil conditions and concerns over tropical weather when deciding when to dig peanut.