Concluding the Varieties Discussion

Over the past 2 months, I have covered, from a grower’s standpoint, several varieties that, while older, have done well for me and others over the long haul. While this is not to say that many of the new varieties that have been released, both public and private, will not do well over time, I...

Read more

Drought and pecan tree death

The 2-5 year drought in Texas has taught us many lessons. We have some orchards with 40 percent dead pecan trees, while others are loaded and looking good. So, why do some trees die while others do not? Without leaving the Texas A&M orchard we have some trees that are dead or near dead while...

Read more

Pecan anthracnose in the Southeast

In 2011, those of us in the Southeast got to experience what it was like to grow pecans in the desert. Fortunately, we’ve seen more rainfall in the Southeast during 2012 than we saw last year. After all, it wouldn’t take much. While we have been thrilled with each rain we received, rainfall and pecan...

Read more

2012: the year the minors went major

As I write this article, we are at the beginning of another pecan harvest season. ‘Pawnee’, ‘Candy’ and ‘Kanza’ have all initiated shucksplit before Sept. 1, 2012. Therefore much of a grower’s time over the next few weeks will be devoted to getting equipment ready to go out into the orchard. However, try to find...

Read more