Industry News

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service added three additional grading documents to the proposed revised U.S. Standards for Grades of Pecans in the Shell and Shelled Pecans on the U.S. Federal Register. Industry members are encouraged to review the new documents. Pecan South will provide more information soon for the comment period on the proposed rule. Find and…

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff met with India’s Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Meeting via video conference, Sen. Ossoff and Amb. Sandhu discussed opportunities to strengthen U.S.-India relations and issues of concern to the Indian diaspora in Georgia. Responding to the needs of Georgia farmers, Sen. Ossoff also raised objections…

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with Texas under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). Utilizing LFPA funding, Texas will create a program that will foster in-state, long-term relationships and build sustainable market opportunities for state producers. “USDA is excited…

In a notice to the U.S. Federal Register on June 1, 2022, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service proposes to revise the U.S. Standards for Grades of Pecans in the Shell and the U.S. Standards for Grades of Shelled Pecans by replacing the current grades with U.S. Extra Fancy, U.S. Fancy, U.S. Choice, and U.S. Standard…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports welcomes the results of a recent econometric study indicating that public-private U.S. agricultural export market development programs remain highly effective and generate a substantial return on investment. In letters sent April 27, 2022, members of the Coalition and additional organizations asked U.S. House and Senate…

Durham, North Carolina—Summit Agro USA announces the introduction of Regev HBX hybrid fungicide. This unique formulation brings new disease fighting power to growers of soybeans, rice, and pecans. “We recognized gaps in the performance of existing fungicides in these three crops, which led us to create this specially formulated hybrid product,” said Dr. Eric Tedford,…

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by natural disaster events in 2020 and 2021 will soon begin receiving emergency relief payments totaling approximately $6 billion through the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) new Emergency Relief Program (ERP) to offset crop yield and value losses. “For…

Fort Worth, Texas—The American Pecan Council (APC) has released the draft of the voluntary Quality Assurance Program (QAP) for the U.S. pecan industry for public comment and will be collecting feedback through our QAP survey. Learn more in the full press release here.

Today, on National Pecan Day, we celebrate the only major tree nut native to America. In honor of pecans, the American pecan industry’s official trade magazine, Pecan South, is publishing a free consumer magazine all about pecans. Anyone can access this nutty magazine, called Pieces of Pecan, online at Pecan South’s website. “This National Pecan Day,…

The American Pecan Council grower and sheller nominations for the 2022-2026 term seats officially opened on Feb. 16. With the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the APC is actively seeking nominations for Council members and alternates for seats whose terms are ending in 2022. The current seats open for elections are based on majority vote. Nominees…

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday addressed U.S. producers’ concerns that China is continuing to fall short on its commitments to purchase U.S. agricultural goods. “We obviously have some unfinished businesses with reference to phase one, and we continue to press China to increase their purchases,” Vilsack testified during a House Agriculture Committee hearing,…

Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee sent a letter to USTR Ambassador Tai to encourage more aggressive enforcement of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). In the letter, Senators Wyden and Crapo write, “The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA” or the “Agreement”) has the potential to deliver…

Texas A&M University’s Agricultural and Food Policy Center released an impact report in January 2022 that analyzes the economic impacts of higher fertilizer prices on the Center’s 64 representative crops. The analysis comes in response to a request made by U.S. Representative Julia Letlow from the 5th District of Louisiana. Read the complete analysis from…

Ambassador Katherine Tai, the U.S. Trade Representative, responded in late December to the U.S. House Ag Appropriations Chairman Stanford Bishop regarding the tariff on U.S. pecan exports to India. In her letter, Ambassador Tai acknowledges that “the Indian market has significant potential for U.S. pecans.” “In my discussions with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration provided a constituent update on Dec. 6, 2021, about China’s new facility registration requirements. Within the update, FDA asks “establishments currently exporting certain food products to China to voluntarily submit information.” According to the update, China has yet to confirm that collecting this information is a prerequisite for goods…

U.S. Federal Register published on Dec. 6, 2021, a proposed rule from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service that “would implement a recommendation from the American Pecan Council to decrease the assessment rate established for the 2021-22 and subsequent fiscal years.” This proposed assessment rate remains in effect unless modified, suspended, or terminated. This proposed rule…

Under the Market Access Program, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service will provide $175.6 million for fiscal year 2022 to 67 nonprofit organizations and cooperatives. Under the Foreign Market Development Program, FAS will allocate $26.8 million for fiscal year 2022 to 21 trade organizations that represent U.S. agricultural producers. USDA has published the list of organizations that…

The INC has released its latest Global Statistical Review with 2021/2022 production forecast updates on tree nuts, peanuts, and dried fruits. Find its full report and analysis here.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Oct. 28 an investment of more than $243 million in grants to support specialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops through two USDA programs—the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the Specialty Crop Research Initiative grants program. USDA is investing $169.9 million through the…

Southern Roots Nut Company, a wholesale supplier of inshell and shelled pecans based in Texas, made a public acquisition announcement today, sharing that the company acquired all of the assets of New Aces Pecan Company, a processing and shelling company in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The full announcement can be found here.

Today, the U.S. Senate and House passed the Continuing Resolution (CR), which includes $10 billion for ag disaster relief for losses in 2020 and 2021. The ag disaster relief section includes many of the provisions written by Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Thompson that were included in the disaster legislation (HR 267) unanimously approved out…

The American Pecan Council announced at its Sept. 22 meeting that the Council and the American Pecan Promotion Board began negotiating the details of a possible management contract for the staff and office of the APC to run the APPB organization. During this meeting, the APC also lowered its assessment as discussed and approved in…

SAHUARITA, Ariz.—Farmers Investment Co (FICO) and South Georgia Pecan Company announced on Sept. 9, 2021, that they have entered into an agreement for FICO to sell its inshell pecans to South Georgia Pecan for processing. This agreement comes after FICO announced it is closing its pecan processing operations effective December 31, 2021. Read more here.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Aug. 31 announced 17 appointees as members of the new American Pecan Promotion Board (APPB). The newly appointed members will serve two, three, and four-year terms. Ten producers and seven importers make up the 17-member board. The 10 producer members will be allocated between three regions within the United States as…