Texas A&M AgriLife researchers are advancing peanut breeding programs aimed at improving nutrition, shelf life and drought tolerance while helping Texas producers remain competitive in specialized peanut markets.
Researchers, growers and industry partners across the state are collaborating to develop peanut varieties tailored to changing consumer demands, processing needs and increasingly difficult growing conditions tied to limited water supplies and climate pressures.
Texas occupies a unique position in the U.S. peanut industry because it produces all four peanut types, runner, Virginia, Spanish and Valencia, under both conventional and organic systems. The state also specializes in high oleic peanut varieties, which contain elevated levels of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and provide extended shelf life for food products.
The Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Stephenville operates the state’s largest peanut breeding program, with research spanning growing regions from South Texas to the Panhandle. Breeders evaluate agronomic traits important to growers while also targeting nutritional characteristics such as protein content, amino acid composition and oil concentration.
Researchers said breeding decisions are increasingly influenced by processors, shellers and end users seeking peanuts designed for specific applications, including cooking oils, bioenergy production, therapeutic foods and protein-based consumer products.
High oleic peanuts remain a major focus because their oil profile supports longer-lasting products for retailers, restaurants and manufacturers. At the same time, researchers are working to improve the amino acid composition of peanuts to address limitations in lysine and methionine, two essential amino acids found at low levels in conventional peanut varieties.
Improving those amino acid levels could increase the value of peanuts used for human nutrition as well as livestock feed. Peanut meal, a byproduct of oil extraction, currently sells at a discount compared to soybean meal because of its lower essential amino acid content.
Using one of the nation’s largest collections of wild peanut species, Texas A&M AgriLife breeders are identifying natural variations with improved amino acid profiles and working to transfer those traits into cultivated high oleic varieties. Researchers are also pursuing genetic markers to accelerate breeding progress.
In parallel, breeding programs continue to focus on drought tolerance and higher oil content as Texas producers face declining water availability and increasing pressure to improve crop efficiency.
Industry collaboration remains central to the state’s peanut research efforts. Producers, shellers and researchers regularly share information to address challenges ranging from disease pressure to processing performance.
Past collaborations led to the development of root-knot nematode-resistant peanut cultivars using resistance genes sourced from wild peanut species collected in Bolivia. Researchers and industry representatives said continued cooperation helps accelerate adoption of improved varieties and ensures breeding priorities align with commercial needs.
Texas growers said high oleic peanuts have become critical to maintaining the state’s niche within the national peanut market. Producers also rely on ongoing research to develop shorter-season, disease-tolerant and drought-resistant varieties capable of performing under variable field conditions.
Commercial field trials conducted on producer farms allow researchers to evaluate varieties under real-world growing conditions while giving farmers direct insight into performance during both dry and wet production seasons.
Shellers and processors also emphasized the importance of breeding varieties that perform efficiently throughout the supply chain, from production fields to final food applications.
Source: Texas A&M AgriLife, "How Texas is perfecting the peanut"