2013 Agricultural Chemical Use Sruvey - Peanuts Highlights

NASS Highlights

May 2014

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No. 2014-3

2013 AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL USE SURVEY

AGRICULTURAL
Peanuts USE
CHEMICAL
About the Survey

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.”

AGRICULTURAL
CHEMICAL USE

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.

Fig. 1. Peanut Chemical Use Survey: 2013 Program States

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.

Access the Data
Access peanut chemical use data
through the Quick Stats 2.0 database
(http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov).
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In Program, select “Survey”
In Sector, select “Environmental”
In Group, select “Field Crops”
In Commodity, select “Peanuts”
Select your category, data item,
geographic level, and year

For methodology information,
go to http://bit.ly/AgChem and
click “Methodology” under the
2013 Peanuts and Rice heading.

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).

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.nass.usda.gov

Pest Management Practices

Table 1. Fertilizer Applied to Peanut Planted Acres, 2013
a

% of
Planted
Acres

Crop Year
Average
Rate
(lbs/acre)

Nitrogen (N)

40

31

12.2

Phosphate (P2O5)

42

43

17.9

Potash (K2O)

42

72

30.4

Total
Applied
(mil lbs)

a The period starting immediately after harvest of the previous year’s

crop and ending at harvest of the current year’s crop.

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 2,4DB dimethylamine salt (50 percent) (Table 2). In 2004,
herbicides were applied to 98 percent of planted acres.
Fig. 2. Pesticides Applied to Peanut Planted Acres, 2013
(% of planted acres)
Herbicides

94

Fungicides

• 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)

87

Insecticides
Other

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:

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

46
3

Table 3. Top Practice in Pest Management Category, 2013 and 2004
(% of peanut planted acres)

Table 2. Top Herbicides Applied to Peanut Planted Acres, 2013
Active
Ingredient

% of
Planted
Acres

Crop Year a
Average
Rate
(lbs/acre)

Total
Applied
(lbs)

Flumioxazin

62

0.095

59,000

2,4-DB dimethylamine salt

50

0.362 b

180,000 b

Imazapic-ammonium salt

47

0.063 b

29,000 b

Pendimethalin

41

0.920

2013

2004

Prevention: Cleaned implements after fieldwork

57

54

Avoidance: Rotated crops during last three years

76

71

Monitoring: Scouted for weeds (deliberately, or by general
observations while performing tasks)

95

96

Suppression: Maintained ground covers, mulches, or other
physical barriers

33

31

377,000

a The period starting immediately after harvest of the previous year’s

crop and ending at harvest of the current year’s crop.

b Expressed in acid equivalent.

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