By: Henry Jordan
December 2025
Once we finish up the harvest season, regardless of the crop, we are presented with the
opportunity for reflection. This year, my three school-age girls taught me a lesson that
will “stick”. Apparently, peanut butter can remove bubble gum from a little girl’s hair.
That’s one crisis that I didn’t know peanuts could resolve! The Auburn University
Official Variety Testing Program is always looking at results to help our stakeholders
mitigate risk, particularly when variety selection is involved.
For the second year, peanut hay was harvested from the Wiregrass Research &
Extension Center’s Irrigated Official Variety Trial (OVT). At this point, will someone
base their variety selection on peanut hay? Most likely not.
With the addition of the second-year peanut hay yield results, we are seeing some
consistency and repeatability regarding hay biomass. From a bird’s eye view, varieties
tended to trend above average, around average, or below average for both years.
The big question that everyone wants to answer is how much of our nutrients are being
removed with the hay? Until the 2025 samples are processed, we only have 2024
forage quality and nutrient removal results. However, they provide an initial glimpse into
the answer. For the 2024 season, the average nutrients removed from hay for the trial
(27 varieties) were 81 pounds of nitrogen, 6 pounds of phosphorus, 117 pounds of
potassium, 62 pounds of calcium, and 16 pounds of magnesium per acre.
Based on the cost of fertilizer inputs, these values warrant attention and reflection. I
would look at it from at least three different angles. Removal: Is the hay being sold, and
do hay sales cover the cost of nutrients removed? Is the hay being fed on rented land?
Redistribution: Is it being fed on your property? How much of those nutrients are being
returned through the cattle, and how evenly distributed are those nutrients across a
pasture? Value: Are baling costs, organic matter removal, & nutrient removal being
factored into the equation? How much value do you put on the peace of mind of having
hay in the barn?
For more information on the Auburn University Official Variety Testing Program and to
view results, please visit the website at aub.ie/variety-tests/. As always, we would like
to thank the Alabama Peanut Producers Association for their continued support.