Tri-State kicks off with tour of The Company Farm

Growers from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi gathered in June for the annual Tri-State Pecan Growers Conference. The conference covered two states with an orchard tour in Louisiana and business meetings, a reception and a broad educational seminar hosted in Natchez, Mississippi. The Tri-State conference kicked off with an orchard tour at The Company Farm in...

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Bluefford Hancock – Pecans were his true love

I was privileged to have been hired by Mr. Bluefford G. Hancock, Extension Horticulture Project Group Leader Emeritus for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, better known as the Texas Agriculture Extension Service in his heyday. As Mr. Hancock often remarked, “When he started out he was the only one (Extension Horticulturist for Texas)”; and he...

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Texas Big Flood Followed by Drought

Texas agriculture has battled soil moisture since the first orchards were planted in the early 1900s. As E.E. Risien said, the 3 most important things pecans need are water, water, water. In 2011, Texas growers received only 2 rains while this April and May the state received record rainfall. The entire state of Texas was...

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OPGA Panel Focuses on Native Pecan Market

Three panelists involved in marketing pecans provided some advice and assessment of current market conditions to those attending the Oklahoma Pecan Growers conference June 12-13 in Ardmore. With Oklahoma being somewhat unique among pecan-producing states in that the majority of the crop is native pecans, much of the conversation focused on natives, and growers were...

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Bee Attacks: They can happen; be prepared

This month’s column is a bit different than what I normally write in that it is not about managing some pest or new products but rather about having a plan to protect one’s self from a bee attack while working in your orchard or around your home. My intent for this article is to get...

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Mulching – overlooked and underutilized

It shouldn’t be surprising that pecan trees grow better when mulched, as mulching mimics the natural state of trees growing in a forest where the forest floor is covered with a layer of decaying organic matter. Roots developing underneath this layer are growing in a favorable environment, where temperature and moisture are more uniform, soil...

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