Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 14842 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2016 PEANUT BUTTER. Peanut oil. Dry roasted. Honey roasted. This list barely scratches the surface of the many different products produced from peanuts. Tom Isleib has spent his plant breeding career trying to breed the perfect peanuts to satisfy the industry. It hasn’t been easy, says the plant breeder who is responsible for peanut cultivar development at North Carolina State University. “Although they all share the desire to be profit- able, often the goals of one sector [within the peanut industry] are somewhat at odds with those of another,” Isleib says. “Growers want high yield and disease resist- ance, shellers want bright shapely pods that meet their needs for different pod classes, processors want good flavor and now the high-oleic fatty acid trait that extends shelf life. “All these different traits are a lot of varmints to chase up one tree. I am near the end of my plant breeding career and have not got all of them up there. It's a never-ending process.” According to the American Peanut Council, seven states account for approximately 99 percent of all peanuts grown in the country. Georgia grows the majority of all peanuts followed by Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Oklahoma. There are approximately 25,000 peanut farmers in the major producing regions. The United States is one of the world’s leading peanut exporters, with average annual exports of between 200,000 and 250,000 metric tons. Isleib, 62, recently spoke about his research to attendees of the National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) annual meeting. His research inter- ests include introgression of unadapted germplasm into adapted populations and development of disease and insect resistant germplasm. He says if there’s one concern that different industry sectors have in common, it’s disease resistance. Late leaf spot (LLS) is a headache for the peanut industry. Caused by the fungus Phaeoisariopsis per- sonata, it’s a major foliar disease that reduces the pod yield and severely affects the fodder and seed quality in peanut. It can cause yield losses of up to 50 percent. A peanut plant resistant to LLS would be consid- ered the holy grail for the peanut industry, and Isleib says such a variety would change a lot for growers. That’s because peanut plants affected by LLS suffer from defoliation, which reduces healthy leaf area and weakens the stems and pegs, causing pods to fall off the vine during digging and harvest. “In parts of the world where peanuts are harvested by hand, it isn’t quite as much of an issue. But in America, where it’s done with machines, it can make things difficult,” Isleib says. According to the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, levels of resistance in peanut varieties alone are not sufficient to provide adequate disease control. Spanish varieties are most susceptible, Virginia types are intermediate and runner varieties are partially resistant. Isleib explains that three new peanut diseases have added insult to injury since he first got involved Variety improvement of this popular snack to please the many stakeholders is no easy feat.Marc Zienkiewicz Breeding a Better Peanut 99% of all U.S. grown peanuts come from seven states. Top producing states are: 1. Georgia 2. Texas 3. Alabama 4. North Carolina 5. Florida 6. Virginia 7. Oklahoma 200,000 plus metric tons of peanuts are exported annually.