A protocol for detecting the potential occurrence of spontaneous combustion (SC) in stored cottonseeds and peanuts using a micro-incubator is described. The protocol indicates how to quantify CO₂ production rates and final CO₂ levels in wet versus dry cottonseed and peanut samples, which can provide crucial data for the early detection of SC risk in storage facilities. The experimental design utilizes a micro-incubator to simulate conditions found in large bulk crop storage. Parameters monitored include CO₂ concentration, temperature, and relative humidity. The protocol includes preparation methods, experimental procedures for both control (dry) and wet seed tests, and test termination criteria that allow for safe experimentation of likely pathogenic fungi. The protocol has three replicates for wet and dry conditions. The protocol is intended to facilitate future experimental studies and ultimately contribute to the development of a consistently reliable early warning fire detection system for SC in cottonseed and peanut warehouse facilities. A consistently reliable fire detection system would address a critical need in the cotton and peanut industry for improved fire risk management and insurability of storage facilities.

Peanut pods after digging are placed in windrows, which can be exposed to rainfall while awaiting harvest. Peanut pod exposure to rainfall after digging can reduce peanut grade quality. Effects of rainfall exposure on pod hull strength were investigated for harvest years 2021 to 2024 from irrigated experimental plots of runner peanuts, Georgia 06G cultivar. Experimental peanut plots were managed at four irrigation levels 0% (dry land), 33%, 66%, and 100% of the recommended irrigation. Peanuts were left in windrows and exposed to simulated rainfall in amounts relative to the irrigation level and then harvested one week after each rainfall using an experimental peanut combine and dried to below 10% moisture. Pod hull strength was measured by compressing 3,599 sample pods in a universal mechanical testing machine to record the force and displacement required to reach rupture stress on the pod suture or seam. Dryland (0% irrigated) peanut pods showed no statistically significant difference in the stress on the pod suture at rupture between the unexposed pods and those exposed to any amount of simulated rainfall. Irrigated peanut pod suture stress at rupture significantly decreased after a single rainfall exposure at all irrigation levels. Pod integrity was not significantly further reduced with subsequent rainfall exposure. When the force needed to rupture pod sutures is reduced, the number of loose shelled kernels at grading may be increased which reduces the value of the peanuts. Peanut farmers should schedule digging peanuts when rainfall is not expected to maintain pod hull strength.

Research is needed to improve walnut drying throughput and energy consumption in hulling plants, but current methods for sampling nuts in commercial drying bins and measuring nut moisture content limit the capacity to investigate the drying process thoroughly. A novel apparatus for obtaining walnut samples at multiple depths and locations in stadium drying bins and a novel rapid method for accurately determining walnut in-shell moisture content were developed. A second rapid moisture measurement method involving near-infrared light (NIR) was also investigated. The sampling apparatus consisted of three sampling columns installed in each walnut drying bin. Each column had gate valves at four elevations, admitting approximately 30 in-shell walnuts to rectangular buckets hanging on a cable just below each gate valve. To collect samples, the gates were opened and closed, the buckets were withdrawn, the nut samples were collected and sealed in labeled bags, and then the buckets were returned to the column to be ready for the next sampling interval. This configuration, sampling nuts at four levels across three locations in the drying bin, allowed better moisture content variability investigation during in-bin walnut drying. The rapid moisture content measurement method consisted of selecting twelve representative in-shell walnuts from each sample and grinding them in a mill. Twelve grams were sub-sampled from the well-mixed ground material and dried in an oven at 105 ± 1 °C for 3 h, then reweighed to determine moisture loss. The coefficient of variation for sub-samples within an individual sample (n = 4) averaged 2.65% for moisture contents ranging from 6% to 47% dry basis. The rapid moisture content measurement method reduced the drying time from 24 h to 3 h compared to conventional oven drying method, with an accuracy of ±0.5 to 1.5% of the full moisture content range. The best correlation observed between the NIR methodology and the rapid moisture content method was 0.74 R². These new in-bin walnut sampling and moisture-content measurement methods will accelerate future research aimed at improving walnut drying at commercial huller facilities.

In 2013, peanut industry stakeholders reported that shelling plant throughput was reduced when shelling peanuts grown in a specific region of the Florida panhandle compared to peanuts grown elsewhere in their supply chains. As a result, samples were collected from suspect fields in Florida, a commercial field in southwest Georgia, and research plots from the National Peanut Research Laboratory (NPRL). Shelling tests showed that the peanuts from the Florida panhandle area shelled at an average rate of 46 kg/h compared to 91 kg/h for the research plot samples and confirmed the observation of stakeholders. Tissue analysis of the hulls also indicated that NPRL samples had much higher levels of iron (Fe) and lower levels of phosphorous (P) than those from Florida. In 2015, experiments using a 2 x 2 factorial experimental design with a high and low soil pH and high and low soil P were conducted in rainout shelters. Shelling analysis revealed no statistically significant differences in shelling rates. However, the samples from plots with low P had numerically higher shelling rates than those from the plots with high P. Results from 2014 and 2015, while somewhat inconclusive, presented enough evidence to warrant further research into the possible cause and potential for this “leathery hull” phenomenon.