While they may be small in acreage, Louisiana peanut farms can produce yields that rival any state. The harvest season has been slowed by hurricanes, but with good weather for the foreseeable future, farmers are busy harvesting their crop.
Louisiana farmers have been producing a commercial peanut crop for more than 50 years, but not many people know about it. All of the production takes place in the extreme northeast corner of the state because it takes a special place to grow them.
According to farmer Vic Jordan, “The main thing you got to have to grow peanuts in north Louisiana is real sandy soil. That’s the main thing. It needs to be as close to beach sand as you can get.”
If you do have the right soil, you can produce peanuts just as good as anywhere in the country.
Jordan has a three-year crop rotation, growing peanuts followed by corn then soybeans. Legumes, such as peanuts, help with the fertility of the soil.
“With the legume, you are scavenging nitrogen out of the air, converting into that nodule on that plant and that plant is leaving the nodule in the ground for the corn crop the next year or for residual nitrogen,” LSU AgCenter agent Bruce Garner said.
While the peanuts themselves have many uses, the plants make an excellent animal feed.
“It is a high protein source. You’ve got the vines. You actually may have some residual peanuts in the mix,” Garner said. “So, it’s a very high protein source for lactating cows and cows in the winter.”
Jordan says that his peanut yield and income he receives is consistent, and if conditions allow, he will expand his peanut acreage.