Agricultural Resource Management Survey - Peanuts - 2014

NASS Highlights

January 2015

•

No. 2015-1

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SURVEY

U.S. Peanut Industry
About this Publication
In 2013, USDA’s National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS) and Economic
Research Service (ERS) conducted the
Agricultural Resource Management
Survey (ARMS) of the U.S. peanut
industry. During the first three
months of 2013, trained enumerators
conducted personal interviews with
more than 900 peanut growers in the
6 largest peanut-producing states.
The farmers provided information on
expenses, resource use, and peanut
production practices during 2013.
This publication includes highlights
of their production practices and
resource use.
The last ARMS peanut industry survey
occurred in 2004, so we compare
2004 and 2013 outcomes in the
following table and figures. The 2004
survey followed closely behind a
major change in peanut policy: the
2002 Farm Act had eliminated the
peanut marketing quota system,
which limited peanut supply for
domestic use, but also made it
difficult for producers to adapt to
long-term market forces. Some of the
changes seen over 2004-2013 reflect
the industry’s adjustment to the
changes in policy and to new market
conditions.

Cost of Production
Table 1: Peanut production costs per acre
2004

2013

Production costs, nominal dollars

69.65

109.37

Production costs, 2013 dollars

91.19

109.37

Production costs, nominal dollars

24.73

40.66

Production costs, 2013 dollars

55.84

40.66

Production costs, nominal dollars

109.69

149.79

Production costs, 2013 dollars

142.33

149.79

Purchased seed
1

Commercial fertilizer
2

Chemicals
3

2004 seed costs are deflated to 2013 dollars using national peanut seed prices (USDA, NASS, Agricultural
Prices). Purchased seed cost does not include the costs of inoculants.
2
2004 commercial fertilizer costs are deflated to 2013 dollars using the national agricultural mixed fertilizer
price index (USDA, NASS, Agricultural Prices). Commercial fertilizer cost does not include costs of lime, gypsum, other soils conditioners, or manure.
3
2004 chemical costs are deflated to 2013 dollars using the national agricultural total chemical price index
(USDA, NASS, Agricultural Prices).
Source: USDA
1

The costs of major inputs used in peanut production--seed, fertilizer, and
chemicals--all increased substantially from 2004 to 2013. Seed costs were
up nearly $40 per acre, fertilizer costs were about $16 per acre higher,
and chemical costs were nearly $40 per acre higher. Most of the increases
reflected higher prices for inputs; after adjusting for price changes, seed costs
were up about $18 per acre, but commercial fertilizer costs were lower in
2013. Market forces likely reduced peanut acreage and pushed production
to more productive acreage after the quota system was eliminated. Chemical
costs were only slightly higher in 2013 than in 2004 after price levels were
adjusted.

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.nass.usda.gov
www.ers.usda.gov

Pesticide and Fertilizer Use
Fig. 2. Peanut Producers Reduce Fertilizer Use

2004
Lbs/Harvested Acre

U.S. peanut acreage declined significantly between 2004
and 2013. Total acreage was down about 25 percent with
reduced acreage in all major producing States except
South Carolina. Georgia remained the largest peanut
producing State accounting for more than 40 percent
of U.S. acres despite a 30 percent decline in State acres
from 2004 to 2013. Elimination of the peanut quota
program in 2002 allowed producers to adapt to market
forces, resulting in fewer and larger peanut farms, and
production shifted to farms and areas with higher peanut
yields.

2013

Fig. 1. Acres of Peanuts Harvested
2004
Nitrogen

2013

Phosphate

Potash

Source: USDA

Acres (1,000)

Peanut producers used substantially less fertilizer in 2013
than in 2004. Application rates, per acre, of nitrogen,
phosphate, and potash were all substantially lower,
consistent with the reductions in price-adjusted fertilizer
expenditures per acre noted in table 1. The shift likely
reflects shifts of peanut production to productive land
that requires lower fertilizer applications, and to farms
that can more efficiently manage applications.
United Alabama Florida Georgia North
South Texas
States
Carolina Carolina

Fig. 3. Pesticide Use on Peanut Crop
2004

Source: USDA

Peanut production is shifting to larger farms. According
to the quinquennial Census of Agriculture, the average
peanut farm harvested 247 acres of peanuts in 2012,
up substantially from 142 in 2002. This occurred as
acres shifted to larger operations: by 2012, 44 percent
of peanut acreage was on farms harvesting at least 500
acres of peanuts, compared to 34 percent in 2002 and 19
percent in 1992. Most peanut farms grow other crops in
addition to peanuts, and average total acreage of farms
growing peanuts also increased, to 2,500 acres in 2013
compared to 1,505 in the 2004 ARMS.

Lbs/Harvested Acre

Structural Change

2013

Fungicide

Herbicide

Insecticide

Other

Source: USDA

Peanut producers reduced their per-acre applications
of insecticides between 2004 and 2013. The modest
aggregate changes in the quantities of herbicides
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applied—in total, an increase of .01 pounds per acre—are
consistent with the modest changes in price-adjusted
chemical expenditures per acre noted in table 1.

Precision Agriculture
Fig. 4. Precision Agriculture Adoption

Percent of Farms Adopting

45%
40%
35%

The average (mean) household income among peanut
producers was $243,998 in 2013, more than double
the value of $112,510 in 2004. While off-farm income is
important to peanut producers, with an average value of
$49,019 in 2013, it grew very little over time, so most of
the increase in household income reflected increased net
income from farming.

2013

25%
20%
15%
10%
5%

Source: USDA

For most farm families, household income combines
income earned off the farm with the net income earned
from the farm. Off farm income may arise from offfarm jobs that household members work at, or from
pensions, interest income or other sources unrelated to
employment. In turn, the net income from the farm is the
difference between the farm business’ revenues and its
expenses.

2004

30%

0%

Household Income

Yield
Monitor

Yield
Map

Soil
GPS
Map

Guidance
System

VRT
Fert

Precision agriculture refers to a set of practices that aim to
take account of variations in nutrient needs, soil qualities,
and pest pressures within fields, and that attempt to
manage fields with those variations in mind.

Fig. 5. Income Increase for Peanut Producers
$300,000

2004

$250,000

2013

$200,000
$150,000
$100,000

Some precision agriculture technologies are being
rapidly adopted by peanut farmers. When a farm’s
yield potential is limited by varying soild conditions
within field, farmers might be able to improve input
management by creating a soil properties map (Soil
GPS Map). One quarter of peanut farms adopted this
technology by 2013, up from 3 percent in 2004. Over 40
percent of peanut farms used auto-steering, or guidance,
systems in 2013, up from 5 percent in 2013. Guidance
systems help harvesters, in particular stay on rows that
are may at times be difficult to navigate precisely. The
technology, which can also be used for planting and
spraying applications, can reduce the physical stresses
on farm operators and can help economize on fuel and
chemical expenses. Finally, variable rate application
of inputs (VRT Fert) has a higher rate of adoption in
peanut production--at over 20 percent of farms--than for
many other crops in the U.S. VRT allows farmers to vary
application rates of fertilizers, and of pesticides as well,
to target them to where they are most needed and limit
applications in parts of fields where they are less effective.

$50,000
$0

Mean
Household
Income

Median
Household
Income

Mean
Off-Farm
Income

Source: USDA

As in most occupations, farm household incomes are
quite skewed, so that a small number of households with
very high incomes raise the mean. The median household
income among peanut farmers was $110,182 in 2013,
substantially above the 2004 median of $68,946.
Of course, prices rose between 2004 and 2013, but the
increase in consumer prices (the Consumer Price Index
rose by 23 percent) was well below the increase in mean
and median household incomes, so that the inflationadjusted incomes of peanut producers rose considerably.
In turn, higher real incomes reflect the fact that 2013 was
a good year for peanut producers, with revenues well in
excess of expenses, as well as the shift of production to
larger peanut farms, which tend to have higher farm and
household incomes.
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www.ers.usda.gov

BECAUSE BETTER DATA =

Better Decisions
Additional Information
For additional information about the Agricultural Resource Management Survey and other peanut industry reports,
visit:

www.nass.usda.gov
www.ers.usda.gov

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
www.nass.usda.gov
www.ers.usda.gov