Texas Pecan Numbers
I like numbers. Some people hate numbers. And don’t forget, numbers can be wrong, or they simply lie. Here are a few Texas Pecan Numbers, maybe right, probably wrong. There are 600,000 to 1,000,000 acres of native pecan trees in Texas, and the number of managed natives is unknown. The finest native groves average less...
Read moreTime to Make Pecan Weevil Management Plans
It is hard to believe that it is mid-July and time to start getting ready for pecan weevils. I feel that, with the drought conditions across the state, this looks to be a year when producers will really need to pay attention to the potential for drought-delayed adult emergence. I have published this article several...
Read moreOPGA Attendees Hear Where Industry Is Headed
At the end of June, growers came together in Bartlesville, Oklahoma for the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Annual Conference. Educational topics and grower chatter displayed feelings about the industry — feelings of change, uncertainty and optimism. Growers and industry speakers alike know that changes have been popping up in sectors of the pecan industry. To update...
Read moreTPGA Conference – Future Looks Bright Despite Not-So-Great 2011 Crop
While Texas pecan growers were generally less than enthusiastic about their crop potential for the 2011 season, the overall sentiment that seemed to prevail at the 90th Annual Texas Pecan Growers Conference in Frisco was that the national industry faces a bright future as long as pecan-producing states cooperatively tackle upcoming hurdles. The need for cooperation...
Read moreEarly Harvest Hurdles
Pecan growing as an industry is evolving significantly and rapidly with the continued introduction of early harvest varieties (EHVs). The USDA Pecan Breeding Program deserves accolades for making controlled crosses that have combined traits of large nut size, excellent kernel quality and early harvest, which has both expanded the industry’s growing range to the north...
Read moreChanging Times
On July 9, in the Albany, Georgia Herald newspaper an extensive article on the pecan business was printed. It was a good article that covered many parts of the business and interviewed people that participate in different areas of the business. Growing, academics, sales and processing were all covered. What really struck me though was a single...
Read moreWater and Native Pecans
Out here in the middle of the country, we’ve been under a dome of high pressure for weeks. Daily temperatures soar above 100 degrees and the sun is baking the field dry. It is even starting to get dry in our native pecan groves. At this point, even atheists are praying for rain. As most...
Read moreLetter To Editor: Sparks Takes Issue With Cultivar Assessments
Regarding Bill Goff’s article, “Can we predict which cultivars will scab?”, published in the June 2011 issue of Pecan South — when I looked at the photograph in Fig. 1, my first impression was that the scabby leaflet was from a seedling pecan. Regardless of whether it is a seedling or a cultivar, the leaflet does not have...
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