Agriculture
ifc. C-7
?
~~ ? ? ?
peanut shortage will cost
,r With peanut buyers facing
..the shortage of drastically
- reduced yields, the recom
mendation to consumers is to
stock up now, before peanut
prices go sky-high.
>?.."If I were a consumer, I
? would stock up on my peanut
I butter because the price of
! peanuts is only going to go
!{up," said Perquimans County
J; Agriculture Chairman Bill
!j Jester, who estimated that the
Ij price of nuts 'would soon ex
Ijceed 20 cents above the
jjpresent grade price of 23 cents
pound.
While some are charging
' that the peanut shortage is
largely due to producers who
_are holding out for higher
"prices, Jester said he did not
,;ielieve that to be the case
locally.
" "I would guess that only 4 or
~~"5 farmers store their nuts out
of -some 100 growers in the
^county," said Jester, who
-added that most county
peanuts were marketed at
harvest or soon thereafter.
The only hope for staving off
a peanut shortage is to loosen
"import policies, according to
Jester, who said that such a
"Wove would draw mixed
' reactions from producers.
"I don't think the average
lyTarmer on the surface would
?I be for that (loosening import
Quotas) but certainly main
taining shelf space in the
market place must play a role
C= I
in their (farmers') reactions,"
said Jester.
Ed Nixon, who is the
Perquimans County
representative to the North
Carolina Peanut Growers'
Association, said that the
association took a stand on
the issue of import quotas at a
recent meeting before
Congress in Washington, D.C.
"They (the association) said
that they would not support
any increase in import quotas
that would cause the price of
domestic nuts to go down,"
explained Nixon.
The association does,
however, recognize the
possible need for loosening
import quotas in order to
maintain shelf space, ac
cording to Nixon.
"Peanuts are competing
with cashews, pecans, and
other nuts for shelf space and
if people can't buy peanuts,
they're going to replace it with
some other nut," said Nixon,
adding, "We don't want to
starve them ? we want to
keep them eating."
If import quotas were lifted
too long, the effect on next
year's crop would be
detrimental, said Nixon.
Most peanuts are imported
from China, the number one
peanut growing nation in the
world, as well from India and
Africa.
Jester related figures that
indicated that compared to
October of 1979, 1990 peanut
yields were down roughly 42
percent in the United States.
"We won't be down that
much in the county though,"
said Jester, who estimated
county-wide peanut produc
tion to be down "some 15
percent."
The North Carolina peanut
crop is forecast at 307 million
pounds, 19 percent below last
year's production of 378
million pounds.
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Farm report
This past week the wet
weather and the holiday
?lowed most farm activities
across the State. The average
number of days suitable for
field work was limited to 2.1
Soil moisture supplies con
tinued to increase and are now
only 2 percent less than
adequate. Where weather
permitted, farmers were busy
harvesting soybeans as well
as sowing small grains and
cover crops. Other farm ac
tivities included cutting fire
wood, corn and cabbage
havrest, and plant bed
preparation. Farmers in
western North Carolina were
also busy cutting Christmas
tres and marketing burley
tobacco. Pastures across the
State continues to be in fair to
good condition.
Soil moisture supplies are
presently averaging 22 per
cent surplus, 76 percent
adequate, and 2 percent short.
The only dry areas reported
this past week were located in
the southeastern Coastal
Plains.
The overall availability of
fuel supplies for farm use
improved slightly this past
week. Galoline, LP. gas, and
diesel fuel are all considered
to be 90 percent adequate and
2 percent surplus at the
present time.
Harvest of corn for grain
was slowed this past week by
the raingfall. Currently 97
percent of the crop has been
harvested compared with 98
percent of a year ago and the
5-year (1975-1979) average of
96 percent.
Soybean harvest also moved
slowly over the past week and
now stands at 64 percent
complete. This is behind last
year's progress ocf 72 percent
and the 5-year average of 68
percent. In the Coastal Plains,
harvest is 64 percent complete
while in the Piedmont,
progress is at 67 percent. The
Mountain Region shows 58
percent of the crop harvested
so far.
Harvest of the cotton crop in
North Carolina moved to 97
percent complete during the
past week This is well ahead
of last year's progress of M
percent and the &year
average of 87 percent in the
major producing areas of the
northern and southern Coastal
Plains, harvest is about 96
percent complete now.
During the week, harvest of
sourghum grain advanced to
93 percent complete, the same
as last year's progress but
slightly behind the 5-year
average of 94 percent In the
Piedmont Region, where most
of the state's sorghum is
grown, harvest is about 98
percent complete.
All of the small grain crops
continued in good condition
this past week with about 5
percent of the acreage rated
excellent. As of November 30,
about 92 percent of the ex
pected wheat acreage for the
State had been seeded,
slightly ahead of the 5-year
average of M percent.
Currently, M percent of the
expected acreage for oats has
been seeded. 95 percent of the
barley, and M percent of the
rye. Progress at thiss time
last year showed 97 percent of
the oats seeded, 16 percent of t
the barley, and S3 percent of
the rye.
Swine day set
A Swine Field Day will be
held Wednesday, Dee. 10, at 2
p.m. at Ed Nixon's farm
building located on Balahack
Road beside his home.
The program will include
short talks by Jack Parker,
Extension Swine Specialist
speaking on reproductive
problems in swine" and John
Hanson, Extension Economist
in Livestock Marketing
speaking on the future for hog
producers.
Immediately following
these presentations, Carroll
Davis, Ralston-Purina
District Sales Manager and
Dr. Gene Nemeheck, Purina
Swine Specialist Veterinarian
will conduct a "wet lab" (|
where live hogs will be
diagnosed and then sacrificed
and dissected showing how
different diseases and
problems affect swine in
ternally.
If your stack of bills is getting higher and higher each
month, see your nearby Federal Land Bank Association
about a debt consolidation loan. Land Bank long-term Joans
? ? ' 3. V ~X; * t
are simple interest, our terms are flexible, and we have
no penalty for prepayment. So don't wait. Go by your
nearby Federal Land Bank Association today and ask about
a debt consolidation loan. A lot goes into agriculture ...
your Federal Land Association covers it ... including debt
consolidation. # ?: . sRi 4 - . nHUI: m -