I had a question about impact of soybeans and the pathogens they harbor on peanuts planted the following year. This was a more unique question as it related to what to plant in 2025 to have the best chance for a good peanut crop in 2026. The farmer is leaning toward letting the land sit idle in 2025 rather than plant soybeans. The farmer knows the economics of the situation.

Here is my text just before we actually spoke:

Received your message about peanuts planted after soybeans. I’ve posted information about the on the Peanut Extension Portal. Here’s a quick summary. It’s not the best thing as you know, but it’s not the end of the world, and it depends a lot on field history. If you had good rotation crops (corn, cotton, sweetpotato or sorghum) for years prior to the soybeans that were in the field last year, peanut yields could be off some but not in a major way. But if you had soybeans in the rotation frequently prior to last year’s soybeans, you stand a chance to take a major hit on the peanuts.

*A key thing to remember is that the pests in the field, from a historically standpoint, is the deciding factor on the soybean-peanut rotation sequence. If pathogens (including nematodes) that affect peanuts are either not present or at low levels, one year of a less-than-ideal rotation with soybeans will be okay with respect peanuts.

The farmer was not going to let weeds get away if the field is left fallow. That is very important to do, to keep weeds from reproducing and becoming entrenched. The question came from a part of the state where dogfennel can be an issue. Letting this weed become entrenched in a fallow year can have negative ramifications for years to come.