2013 Agricultural Chemical Use Survey - Peanut Highlights

May 2014 | No. 2014-3 | Download PDF Version


NASS conducted the 2013 Agricultural Chemical Use Survey among peanut producers in six states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas (Fig. 1). These states accounted for 93 percent of the peanut acreage planted in the United States in the 2013 crop year. All 2013 peanut chemical use data refer to these “program states.”

Figure 1 - Peanut Chemical Use Survey- 2013 Program States

Fertilizer Use

Nitrogen (N), phosphate (P2O5), and potash (K2O) were the most widely used fertilizer materials on peanuts. Farmers applied nitrogen to 40 percent of planted peanut acres, at an average rate of 31 pounds per acre for the 2013 crop year. They applied phosphate and potash to 42 percent of acres at an average rate of 43 and 72 pounds per acre, respectively. (Table 1)

In 2004, the last crop year for which NASS conducted the peanut chemical use survey, phosphate was applied to 66 percent of planted acres, followed by potash (63 percent) and nitrogen (60 percent).

Table 2

Pesticide Use

The pesticide active ingredients used on peanuts are classified in this report as herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, or other chemicals. Herbicides were used most extensively, applied to 94 percent of planted acres (Fig. 2). Fungicides and insecticides were applied to 87 and 46 percent of planted acres, respectively. Among herbicides, flumioxazin was the most widely used (62 percent of planted acres), followed by 2,4-DB dimethylamine salt (50 percent) (Table 2). In 2004, herbicides were applied to 98 percent of planted acres.

Figure 2 Table 2 - Top Herbicides Applied to Peanut Planted Acres, 2013

Pest Management Practices

The survey asked growers to report on the pest management practices they used on peanuts, with pests defined as weeds, insects, or diseases. Peanut growers reported practices in four categories of pest management strategy:

  • Prevention practices keep a pest population from infesting a crop or field through various preceding actions.
  • Avoidance practices mitigate or eliminate the detrimental effects of pests through cultural measures.
  • Monitoring practices involve observing or detecting pests through systematic sampling, counting, or other forms of scouting.
  • Suppression practices involve controlling or reducing existing pest populations to mitigate or eliminate crop damage.

Scouting for weeds was the most widely reported monitoring practice, used on 95 percent of peanut planted acres. Among avoidance practices, crop rotation was practiced on 76 percent of planted acres. The most widely used prevention practice was cleaning implements after field work to reduce the spread of pests (57 percent). Maintaining ground covers, mulches, or other physical barriers was the most used suppression practice (33 percent). (Table 3)

Rotating crops and maintaining ground cover were also the top practice in their categories in 2004.

Table 3 - Top Practice in Pest Management Category, 2013 and 2004

About the Survey

The Agricultural Chemical Use Program of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s official source of statistics about on-farm and post-harvest fertilizer and pesticide use and pest management practices. NASS conducts field crop agricultural chemical use surveys as part of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey.

NASS conducted the peanut chemical use survey in fall 2013, collecting data about fertilizer and pesticide use, as well as pest management practices, for the 2013 crop year. The 2013 crop year for peanuts began in 2012 immediately after harvest of the previous crop and ended in 2013 with harvest of that year’s crop.

Last Modified: 05/04/2018