Importance of Proper Top Link Setting for Peanut Digging Loss Reduction

Abstract

The digging and inversion process creates the most yield loss during peanut harvest. Even if the grower produces great yield from proper care and management of this crop it can quickly be lost from the improper settings of the peanut digger. Although all losses cannot be prevented during the process a great deal of experienced yield losses are generally avoidable. Proper setting of the peanut digging angle for the soil texture is among the most important factors in optimizing yield losses during the inversion process. It is common practice for producers to set the peanut digger for the finest soil texture in the field. This is in part due to difficultly to adjust the top link every time the soil texture changes within a field, as well as the misconception that it is better to dig more aggressively. Tests conducted at the Clemson University Edisto Research and Education Center demonstrated that improper top link settings across soil textures within a field led to higher digging losses. Digging losses ranged from 3.3 to 10.9% of potential yield in the sand soil texture, 5.8 to 15.7% in the medium texture, and 12.3 to 24.1% in the clay soil texture. The data indicated that there was an optimum top link setting for each soil texture, with increased losses at both shallower and deeper depths. Average recoverable yield was statistically less in the sand texture zone (4,457 lb ac-1) than in the medium (5,149 lb ac-1) and clay (4,891 lb ac-1) texture zones. Over-mature and diseased digging losses were greatest for the clay texture, but not statistically different from those for the sand and medium texture zones.