Perennial Peanuts : Agriculture Varieties

Complete Description and Detailed Characteristics

Florida's dairies, horse farms, ranches, deer farms and other speciality livestock enterprises are major consumers of high quality forage. Many tons of alfalfa hay are imported into the state each year to fill this need. Florida Institute of Agricultural Sciences and several enterprising farms such as our own have began to meet the challenge of producing for this market. The key to this has been the development of the perennial peanut. Perennial peanut is a high quality forage crop that adapts well to Florida's climate and soil types.

Perennial Peanut is a high-quality persistent tropical forage legume which can be grazed or fed of horses, dairy and beef cattle, hogs, goats, sheep, deer and rabbits. It can be stored as dry hay or silage and is an ideal substitute for imported alfalfa. Florigraze and Arbrook cultivars of perennial peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.), or rhizoma peanut, as it is sometimes called, have been selected in Florida for their high yield, quality, persistence, disease resistance, and drought tolerance. Perennial peanut is unique to Florida because there is no other warm season legume that rivals its forage quality, persistence, and broad spectrum of uses (hay, pasture, creep grazing, silage, ornamental, mulch, etc.).

Perennial peanut is well-adapted to dry, sandy soils, and to date, appears to persist indefinitely. Perennial peanut is planted using rhizomes, or underground stems, dug from our well-establshed nursury planting. It does not require nitrogen fertilizer, and once established, can be maintained with a low level management. Hay yields in north Florida range from 3-5 tons per year for well-established stands. Quality and uses are so similar to that of alfalfa that perennial peanut has been coined "Florida's alfalfa".

Perennial peanut grows well in Florida, south Georgia, and southern portions of the Gulf States. It requires no pesticides for control of insects or diseases nor does it require applied nitrogen as do traditional grass forages.

Florigraze, released in 1979, is the most widely distributed, commercially grown cultivar today. Arbrook, the latest cultivar release, is less cold hardy and best suited to dry sites. Researchers at the University of Florida are continuing the search for higher yielding, well-adapted cultivars. Crude protein of perennial peanut ranges from 13-18%, depending on stemminess and stage of maturity, with an amino acid and mineral composition very similar to alfalf. Digestibility (IVOMD) for alfalfa and perennial peanut is also quite similar, ranging from 55-65%.

As indicated by its name, "perennial" peanut is long-lived and does not require replanting once established. Because it is long-lived, it develops a deep and extensive system of rhizomes and roots which enable the plant to mine a large volume of soil for both moisture and nutrients. Thus, perennial peanuts survives dry periods and grows on less than optimum fertile soil. It is well adapted to the droughty, infertile, well-drained, deep sainds of Florida. However, it does respond to good fertility and moisture.

Perennial peanut was introduced into Florida from Brazil in 1936 and to the present time no insect, disease, or nematode pest, causing significant economic loss, has been identified. Weed control is normally required following planting and is achieved through both mechanical (mowing) and chemical (herbicide) means. Other than the use of herbicides during establishment and occasionally post-establishment, no other pesticides are required to produce a well-managed crop of perennial peanut.

Perennial peanut has a low fertilizer requirement, with a high resistance and/or tolerance to drought, plant and soil pests. This translates into a tremendous savings in energy and dollars, minimizing impact to the environment while producing a high valued, high quality forage. These characteristics make perennial peanut an environmentally sound, low energy consuming crop which ranks it as important component for sustainable agricultural systems.

*Information was gathered from our own observations and experiences, as well as research from the University of Florida.

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