Authored by:  Ethan Carter, Regional Row Crop Agent

On Thursday, August 13, 2026, the UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center in Marianna, Florida hosted the annual UF/IFAS Peanut Field Day. The half-day educational program focused on peanut research updates, crop management variety performance.  This year, 130 people attended the event, with seventy-two earning continued education units (CEUs) for their Florida or Georgia pesticide license renewals, and one earning Certified Crop Advisor credits.

Tractor pulled trolleys departed the registration area at 8:40 am and carried attendees to various field stops through Noon. This year, lunch took place on the research station over at the Beef Unit Pavilion, where for the first time in Peanut Field Day history attendees ate lunch in an air-conditioned building. The Beef Pavilion had air conditioning added in the spring of 2026 and more updates are in the planning stages. A warming kitchen and storage area will be added. The NFREC received $2 million legislative funding which supports ongoing facilities upgrades.  Additionally, the Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District made a gift “to support producer education initiatives and facility improvements at the NFREC located in Marianna, Florida…”  which will also help with facilities upgrades.

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Speaker handouts are linked below as PDFs

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1. Ian Small & Isaac Esquivel – (No handouts were provided at this stop)

The duo discussed tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) which is an insect vectored disease, and insect management. Tomato spotted wilt virus management decisions are determined early in the season based on variety selection and whether or not to use Thimet. The foliar feeding caterpillar threshold in peanut is 4-8 per row foot.

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2. Carolina Baruzzi & Kalyn Waters – Active Ingredients in Commercial Deer Repellents

Dr. Baruzzi and Kalyn discussed data gathered from on-farm work over the past two years evaluating deer injury in peanut and cotton fields. There are many common active ingredients used in repellents for deterring deer and even more products. Most deterrent active ingredients have limited testing history with row crops and a greater focus on ornamentals. Those tested on a row crop were usually soybean. Deterrent work is underway at the research station in Quincy with a goal of moving several to on-farm testing in the 2027 crop season.

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3. Nick Dufault & Daniel Leonard – Florida Peanut Fungicide Quick-Reference Guide

Dr. Dufault and Daniel were stationed at the fungicide trial, which is evaluating several different spray programs using FloRun™ 725 and FloRun™ 52N. Attendees were provided the attached handout which lists commonly used fungicides in an informative table. It details their active ingredient, trade name(s), mode of action, rate, PHI, and labeled diseases.
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4. Barry Tillman – Florida Peanut Varieties

Disease susceptibility of a variety plays a large role in peanut fungicide spray programs which range 5-7 sprays a season depending on the variety and grower. Different peanut varieties have varying strengths and weaknesses when it comes to pesticide management, with some more tolerant to leaf spot (foliar diseases) and others to white mold (soilborne diseases). He discussed the 2026 PeanutRX as well as normal oleic (FlorRun™ 52N & Arnie), and high oleic (FloRun™ 725, 618, T61, and Gorbet) varieties from his program. Tillman aslo covered their seed size, maturity, yield potential, disease risks, and general growth habits.
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5. Mark Mauldin – Gloves and Protective Eyewear for Pesticide Applicators

Mark focused his talk on the key elements of pesticide safety, specifically, types of common personal protective equipment listed on commonly used pesticides. Labels vary by personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements, so he explained why labels require different types (eyewear, gloves, long sleeves, respirators, etc.) to prevent exposure is important for applicator compliance.
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6. Ednaldo Borgato – Weed Management in Peanuts

Dr. Borgato discussed proper identification of common peanut weeds, to spray or not to spray based on weed size, crop age and herbicide preharvest interval windows. Best management practices such as application timing, frequency, and product selection should be applied to weed management for successful applications.

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We are extremely grateful to our sponsors, without their continued support, this meeting and others like it would not be possible. Our 2026 UF Peanut Field Day sponsors are listed below:

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