Peanut Field Day capped off the day with a wonderful fried catfish lunch, prepared by the NFREC Quincy Farm Crew. Credit: Doug Mayo. UF/IFAS
The 2025 UF Peanut Field Day was held Thursday, August 14, near Marianna, Florida. The event had a record turnout for recent years, with 194 people. Six tractor pulled wagons through the fields carrying attendees to the different speaker stops. This annual program is a regional peanut meeting located in the Central Panhandle to support local growers from Calhoun, Gadsden, Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties. The planning committee is comprised of local extension agents Ethan Carter, Mark Mauldin, Kalyn Waters, Daniel Leonard, and Robbie Jones. Florida extension specialists spoke to growers regarding ongoing research projects and late season management strategies to finish out the growing season. The restricted use pesticide applicators in attendance were able to earn Florida and Georgia continuing education units (CEUs) for license renewal, as did Certified Crop Advisors.
Attendees received a spiral bound program book comprised of speaker handouts, extra copies are available at the Jackson County Extension Office for anyone who would like to pick up a hard copy. Below is a brief recap of what the different speakers discussed, as well as direct links to download PDF (printable) versions of their handouts from the event.
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Peanut Varieties & Performance
Dr. Barry Tillman, UF/IFAS Peanut Breeder, and Washington County Ag Agent, Mark Mauldin discussed commercially released peanut varieties, those in the breeding pipeline, and optimizing maturity at harvest. Dr. Tillman covered specific traits and characteristics of different normal and high oleic varieties, as well their ranking on Peanut RX. Variety summaries included in the handout include FloRun™ ‘52N’, Arnie, FloRun™ ‘725’, FloRun™ ‘618’, FloRun™ ‘T61’, FloRun™ ‘331’, and TUFRunner™ ‘297’. Mark talked about the importance of pulling maturity samples to narrow down the best harvest time for specific fields. Tracking the adjusted growing degree days (aGDDs) and pulling a maturity sample in the 2300 -2500 range is ideal for most runner varieties. To learn how to track aGDDs or for more information, read the article 2025 peanut Maturity Update – August 13.
Handout: Peanut Varieties & 2025 Peanut RX – Barry Tillman
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Nematode Management: Resistant Variety & Nematicide Options
Dr. Zane Grabau, UF/IFAS Nematologist, provided symptomatic plants for attendees to see visual issues in person. These ranged from galled root systems, stunted plants, and leaf issues. Nematode resistant lines that he discussed and outlined in the handout were TifNV-HG, TifNV-HighO/L, Georgia-22MPR, Georgia-14N, ACI-N104, and Georgia-23RKN. Pesticide products elaborated on included Telone II, AgLogic 15GG, Vydate C-LV, Velum, and Propulse.
Handout: Resistant Varieties & Nematicide Options – Zane Grabau
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Fungicides & New Leaf Spot Resistant Varieties
Dr. Nick Dufault, UF/IFAS Crop Pathologist, and Daniel Leonard, Calhoun County Extension Agent, provided information related to fungicide options, the 2025 Marianna fungicide trial, and the status of leaf spot tolerant lines currently being evaluated by UF/IFAS. Understanding the different pre-harvest intervals (PHI) for fungicide products are key when it comes to successful late season disease management. Their handout included product options, rates, PHIs, and modes of action.
Handout: Fungicides & Marianna Spray Trial – Nick Dufault
Handout: Characterizing & Deploying Novel Disease-Resistant Peanut Cultivars in the Southeastern U.S. – Daniel Leonard
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White Mold & TSWV Diseases; Insect Management
Drs. Ian Small, UF/IFAS Crop Pathologist, and Isaac Esquivel, UF/IFAS Crop Entomologist discussed white mold in peanut as well as insect vectored tomato spotted wilt virus. The main focus was timing of fungicide and insecticide sprays as well as insect identification and control.
Handout: Select Insect Identification and Management – Isaac Esquivel
Potassium and Iron Management in Peanut
Dr. Sudeep Sidhu, UF/IFAS Agronomist, and his team spoke to attendees about three nutrient trials evaluating application rates, timing, and products. All three studies were planted in mid-May at Citra, Florida using Georgia 16HO. One potassium study had 16 treatments which ranged from 0 lbs/ac to 250 lbs/ac with a combination of different application timings. The application timings were at plant, bloom, and 2 weeks after bloom. Another potassium study looked at control release fertilizer application in peanut, comprised of 8 treatments. The final nutrient study focused on chelated iron with 5 treatments comprised of several timings at rates.
Handout: Potassium & Iron Studies – Sudeep Sidhu
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Weed Management in Peanut
Dr. Ednaldo Borgato, UF/IFAS Weed Scientist discussed the importance of resistance management and good stewardship of our herbicide chemistries. Rotating chemicals with different modes of action and overlapping residual products throughout the cropping system helps achieve this goal. Timing is imperative when it comes to weed control, products are labeled and effective on weeds of very specific sizes. Also, specific products are more effective on specific weeds compared to others.
Handout: Weed Management in Peanut – Ednaldo Borgato
Program Sponsors
These 25 sponsor organizations participated in our program and without their continued support, this event would not be possible. Our planning committee is extremely grateful for their support and the services that they provide the region’s growers.
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Save the dates for our 2026 signature programs:
Thursday, March 5, 2026 for the 2026 Panhandle Row Crop Short Course
Thursday, August 13, 2026 for the 2026 UF/IFAS Peanut Field Day
- 2025 Peanut Field Day Recap & Speaker Handouts - August 29, 2025
- Peanut Foliar Diseases Exploding Across Florida - August 22, 2025
- Provisional Nitrogen Fertilization Recommendation for Florida Cotton for the 2025 Season - June 20, 2025