Even though eastern New Mexico's climate is perfect for growing Valencia peanuts, Delbert and Verla Brown of Portales say the famous legumes are the trickiest crop they've ever produced.

"They're a lot of work," Verla says. "You've got to water them right, fertilize them right and plow them right."

When the Browns planted their first crop of Valencias in 1952, there were about 300 peanut growers in the region. That year, the couple lay awake at night fretting about the $18,000 they'd had to borrow from the Farmers Home Administration to pay for their first farm, located four miles northeast of Portales. These days, they have monthly irrigation bills that total as much.

"That first year, we made a miserable failure," Verla says. "We had no equipment to harvest them."

While the Browns waited for a neighbor who had a harvester to return from deer hunting, it snowed and rained on their peanuts. "Eventually, Delbert learned how to farm them," Verla says with a chuckle.

Peanuts for Profit

Today, the Browns and about 100 other farmers in Curry, Lea and Roosevelt counties are growing the Valencias for more than just peanuts.

The little, golden beauties, sold mostly roasted and in-the-shell, are an economic mainstay of the High Plains. The agricultural production value alone was more than $11 million in 1996.

"The total impact to the area is about $143 million a year," says Floyd McAlister, Roosevelt County agricultural agent with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service.

"The Valencia peanut has kept the irrigated farmer in eastern New Mexico in business over the years. No other farmer has as consistent an income as the peanut farmer."

In New Mexico as well as nationwide, peanuts are grown under a quota system with production levels and prices tightly regulated. The national quota was reduced with the 1996 Farm Bill and could come under scrutiny again when federal farm policies are reevaluated in the year 2000.

A Perfect Peanut Place

This year, New Mexico growers were expected to harvest 46 million pounds of peanuts from 20,000 acres, according to a forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Roosevelt County has the most land in peanuts with 17,500 acres, followed by Lea with 1,300 and Curry with 1,200.

Hot, dry weather brings the best yields, McAlister says. "This area is perfectly suited for growing Valencia peanuts. Our dry climate and elevation of more than 4,000 feet give us an advantage of low humidity and low night temperatures, which result in fewer diseases."

Even though New Mexico grows only about 1 percent of all peanuts in the nation, it fills a niche market by producing 90 percent of all Valencias.

Known for their sweetness, Valencias usually have three or more kernels per pod. Best suited to the area, they need a shorter growing season than the three other market types-runner, Virginia and Spanish peanuts. One drawback is that Valencias are not as high yielding as others.

McAlister is blunt about what makes the Valencias so special: "They just taste better."

Peanut Paternity

Peanut plants had quite a history before arriving in New Mexico. They probably originated in Brazil or Peru, according to the National Peanut Council. They later made their way to Mexico, where Spanish explorers found them and took them back to Spain. From there, traders and explorers spread them to Africa and Asia. Peanuts arrived in North America with slaves brought from Africa. The slaves then planted peanuts throughout the South.

Peanuts finally arrived in the Land of Enchantment by way of Tennessee in the early 1900s, says David Hsi, emeritus professor and peanut breeder/plant pathologist with NMSU's Agricultural Experiment Station.

The first Valencia peanut grown in New Mexico was the Tennessee Red, named for its red seed coat. Valencias may derive their name from a connection to Valencia, Spain.

Today, the primary varieties grown in New Mexico include Valencia A and Valencia C, released by the Experiment Station in 1971 and 1979, respectively. About 1,000 acres are planted with the McRan peanut, introduced in 1967 from Morocco.

The Browns helped develop Valencia A. For seven years, Delbert selected the best-shaped, four-kernel peanuts he could find and planted them in his own test plots.

Hsi then used Delbert's selections in his initial peanut trials. Valencia A emerged from these trials as the highest-yielding selection. "My biggest accomplishment was to purify the strain and improve yield and quality of the peanut," he says. Hsi later released Valencia C-a selection from Argentina.

Delbert would probably be famous by now for developing a five-kernel Valencia, if it hadn't been for a slight mishap. For several years, he collected five-kernel peanuts, storing them in a jar in his pickup. But one fateful day, a hungry farmhand turned the genetic stock into a snack.

While there may never be a Valencia that predominantly produces five-kernel pods, the Experiment Station is starting a new peanut breeding project at the Agricultural Science Center at Clovis. A new researcher should be on board soon. Funding for operating expenses is coming from growers and processors through the New Mexico Peanut Research Board, a commodity commission formed in 1998.

"We're testing 200 varieties of Valencia-type peanuts from all over the world," says R.D. Baker, Extension agronomist and acting science center superintendent. "We are looking for varieties that will be suitable for crossing with the two varieties that we plant now to enhance their yield, quality, taste, shelf-life and looks."

Alva Carter, president of the New Mexico Peanut Growers' Association for the past seven years, says the state's growers also are hoping a variety requiring an even shorter growing season can be developed. "Our growing season here is very short," he says.

A tireless advocate for growers, Carter also is chairman of the New Mexico Peanut Research Board.

In addition, he's a member of the National Peanut Growers' Group, a steering committee that lobbies the USDA.

At the national level, Carter wants to make sure New Mexico's growers are treated the same as those in other peanut-producing states. He's also working for new labeling legislation, so consumers will know which peanut products have been raised and processed in the United States.

Planting Peanuts

Despite common misconceptions, peanuts do not grow on trees, McAlister says. Peanut seeds or kernels are planted in the ground during May and early June. The plants flower above ground, but send pegs underground where pods develop.

By mid-July, growers are on the lookout for diseases, particularly web blotch, a fungus that causes defoliation. Growers get help predicting when the disease will hit from BlotchCast, a computer model developed by Craig Liddell, a former NMSU plant pathologist.

BlotchCast uses information about temperature, humidity and rainfall from six weather stations located throughout the peanut-growing area to help farmers apply fungicides more accurately and efficiently. To get daily spray recommendations, growers call a hotline at (505) 359-2290. With better timing, growers can save three or four sprays each year.

Another troublesome fungal disease is blackhull, which discolors peanut shells. The disease can best be controlled through cultural practices like rotating the crop with corn and grain sorghum to reduce fungus in the soil, Hsi says.

Next, peanut farmers worry about the October harvest. Specially designed peanut diggers invert the peanuts, so they can dry in the sun for seven to 10 days before harvesting with a special threshing machine. "It's the only time of year that we really fuss about the weather," McAlister says. Rain during the drying period can ruin a harvest.

Carter says wind during those critical days also can be trouble, scattering the peanuts out of their rows and causing yield losses during harvest.

Peanut Processors

Peanuts aren't just the business of farmers in the High Plains. Six peanut handling and processing plants in the area add even more value to the tasty crop.

Sunland Inc. of Portales processes and packages peanut products under its own and several private labels, says Paul Newsom, vice president of sales.

The majority of Sunland's peanuts are grown in the Portales area, while the balance comes from within 150 miles of the plant, he says.

Peanuts harvested in the fall are kept in dry storage at Sunland for processing throughout the year. There's only three weeks of downtime for maintenance between each harvest, keeping 40 full-time employees busy year-round.

Another 40 to 50 workers are hired seasonally, when the plant's operating 24 hours a day during the fall harvest.

Some of the 17 million pounds of peanuts that end up at the plant are roasted, salted and packaged in-the-shell, while others are left raw and in-the-shell so consumers can do their own boiling or roasting.

The company also shells, roasts and grinds peanuts for old-fashioned-nothing added-peanut butter in both creamy and crunchy versions. "Our peanut butter business has been super," Newsom says. He credits the success in part to consumers who are rediscovering peanut butter as a healthy source of protein with zero cholesterol.

Peanut Passion

With the aroma from roasting peanuts filling the air, it's no wonder High Plains residents crave their most celebrated crop.

Peanut harvest is honored each year with the Peanut Valley Festival at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. Kids play peanut games and local cooks whip up entries for the food fair contest. The breads, cakes, candies, cookies and pies must all contain peanuts.

Year-round, peanut lovers can get their peanut fix at Pat's Twin Cronnies in Portales. The drive-in has been serving up tan-flecked, peanut butter shakes since 1952, says manager Mary Crisp. But the recipe is kept secret.

Sweet, red peanut patties wrapped in plastic can be purchased at local stores. The Leslie Candy Kitchen in Clovis-primarily a wholesaler-is known for having made the biggest peanut patty 15 years ago for the Peanut Valley Festival. Six feet in diameter, the concoction weighed 350 pounds.

Leslie candymaker Gary Gibbs says the patties are made from a sugar, water and syrup base, some flavoring and color, and, of course, peanuts. "We have generations of people that come in for peanut patties," he says. "When people move away and come back for a visit, they have to stop in. They're hooked-peanut patty addicts."

Perhaps, there are no bigger peanut fans than the local growers and processors themselves. Verla Brown says there's nothing better than fresh, roasted peanuts. Her daughter, Eva Stevens, who keeps the books for the family business, likes her peanuts raw.

When the Brown children were young, school projects always revolved around peanuts. Today, son Wesley Brown works alongside his parents. But harvest has special meaning for the whole family, even for the grown children who have moved away. Daughter Naida Brown, an attorney in California, always remembers to bake and send cakes to feed the crew for a special Thanksgiving-style meal on the last day of harvest.

"When the crops are in, that's the real Thanksgiving," Eva says.