What is a Native Pecan Sprout Worth?

This past winter we identified several young pecan sprouts that were surrounded with briars and brush that had been previously ignored because they were not on perfectly flat ground as was the main orchard. They were close to water and beavers had already taken many other young trees in the area. The first step was...

Read more

Texas Pecan Drought Impact

Everyone in the pecan industry knows Texas is currently experiencing a 20-month drought. Pecans are in bad shape. If there ever was a good year for no pecans, 2011 is it. Trees are stressed to the limit and a good crop could or would kill the trees. The following are some of the signs the...

Read more

Clover Benefits Orchard Soil Quality

Orchard soil health is the basis of everything that takes place in the pecan orchard. The bottomland soils on which pecans grow in their native range vary considerably from those on upland sites where the trees are cultivated and grown commercially in the southeastern U.S. The loamy bottomland ridges to which pecans are adapted typically...

Read more

INC NREF Recaps Recent Accomplishments

The pecan industry has been contributing $50,000 per year for a number of years to the International Tree Nut Council’s Nutrition Research and Education Foundation. This is the minimum amount that the foundation requires from any nut industry that wishes to be included in the foundations efforts. The nuts currently participating are almonds, brazil nuts,...

Read more

2011 and Beyond

The National Pecan Shellers Association meeting was held in mid-September and they estimated the U.S. crop at 277 million pounds. As I write this, I do not have the breakdown by state but I am sure Cindy will have it elsewhere in the magazine. If you average NPSA’s 277 million with the various grower group...

Read more

Aw Shucks! This Season Just Ain’t Normal

The last article I wrote discussed the flowering process in pecans and the different nut drop stages a grower could expect to observe through the spring and summer months. Now that we’ve managed to keep part of the crop on the trees until September, I thought we would spend some time discussing the effects of...

Read more