Question:

I have several acres to finish up planting, and I can get either Bailey II or Emery. Which is best?

Jordan:

Emery is a larger peanut and requires more water than Bailey II. Not as much as Gregory from years ago, but there is a greater demand for water and calcium for Emery just because of seed size. Bailey II just seems to do well across numerous environments. Without irrigation, I lean toward Bailey II.

*The farmer had already decided on Bailey II before we talked, so I did reinforce that decision. Emery is also more prone to disease in general than Bailey II.

**The farmer and I both had Dr. Don Emery as advisors at NCSU. The variety Emery is named after Dr. Emery. There is about a 15-year difference in my age and the farmer’s. I’ll let you guess who was older of the two (Dr. Emery was certainly the oldest of the three.)