Spring Has Arrived, Time to Order PNC Pheromone Traps

Although it is only early March at the time of this writing, the redbuds are in bloom and a few bluebonnets are out here in the College Station area. Spring has arrived, and it is time to start thinking about ordering your casebearer pheromone traps and lures. I feel that anyone in the pecan business…

This February and March industry members from New Mexico to Alabama gathered at three different conferences to hear from pecan experts, network with each other, and celebrate the pecan industry. With more conferences set to come, Pecan South presents updates from the conferences for the Southeastern Pecan Growers Association, Western Pecan Growers Association and National…

I don’t know about you, but springtime gets me all worked up. I welcome the change in weather with open arms, and something about this seasonal change builds my enthusiasm. To me, digging in the dirt and reorganizing my home are synonymous with spring. It’s a chance to get things accomplished with a fresh, new…

The USDA issues a final pecan crop report annually at the end of June or beginning of July, providing the industry a retrospective picture of the previous year’s pecan production across the pecan belt. Missing from this official documentation is any tabulation of crop loss. An unknown tonnage of pecans in each state fail to…

As a journalist, the truth holds a lot of weight for me. Misinformation, false equivalency, bias, objectivity, protected sources—I spent the majority of my time last year debating and discussing these topics with fellow journalists, while I worked to earn my Master’s. In today’s world, we’re a click away from each other. But plot twist!…

As pecan growers enter the 2018 pecan year, it is good to outline management practices and develop plans for the entire calendar year. Growers can use different types of management—establishment management, low versus moderate versus intensive orchard management, and native grove management. Texas production is in an alternate bearing cycle with 2018 being the “on”…

The team at Kern farm places great importance on soil health. After shredding up limbs from hedging, Felipe Ramirez, farm manager, leads the team in compacting those shredded limbs into the soil. This is one way orchard employees work to bring nutrients back to the soil. Ramirez also says this helps to keep the ground…

The World Ag Expo returned to Tulare, California on Feb. 13-15 this year to give producers, consumers and ag innovators the chance to meet, network and celebrate the future of agriculture. Presented by the International Agri-Center, this year’s World Ag Expo covered 2.6 million square feet and featured exhibitors with various focuses from safety to…

As the pecan industry’s leading publication, it should come as no surprise that we love pecans. As editor of Pecan South, I’m constantly on the lookout for new and interesting pecan recipes—not only to feature in the magazine, but also to use at home since my freezer is currently overrun with our favorite nut. This…

This is a topic I have written about several times in the past, but every year I receive questions concerning the use of dormant oils on pecan so I will readdress this topic again. Horticultural oils have been used in agriculture for over 100 years to control various soft-bodied insects such as scale, aphids, and…

What a difference a year makes as we get ready for another exciting growing season! Our winter to date has been totally different from last year with periods of extended cold, some ice and snow and cold fronts on a regular basis. After a year of virtually no chill, it appears that we will have…

Certain problems you encounter in growing pecan trees have characteristic symptoms and have been such obvious problems through the years that they have been studied extensively and have well-defined methods of treatment. Pecan scab, mouse ear, and zinc deficiency would fall into this category. But sometimes pecan trees may suffer from less obvious symptoms, and…

If you’re going to grow pecans in the southwestern states you’ll need to irrigate. That’s a given. Every time we irrigate, though, we’re adding more than just water. Every time we irrigate, we’re adding some amount of salt to the soil along with the water. It might just be a little bit of salt or…

We just finished up harvesting, cleaning, and marketing our 2017 native pecan crop. At this point in the season, I usually take stock of how our natives performed during the previous growing season and then make plans for how we can tweak our management program to optimize the 2018 crop. Do we need to alter…

The pecan industry was hit by a hard freeze the first month of 2018. The most northern orchards received the coldest temperatures, with some less than 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Other orchards in the South experienced temperatures in the teens accompanied by ice, sleet, and snow. How cold must it be before damage occurs? When did the…

So much can change over a short period of time. I often look back to previous year’s conditions to compare with present conditions. Last year, many growers, especially those that had other fruit crops in addition to their pecan trees, were very concerned about the shortage of cold weather received over the 2016-2017 winter. It…

For more than 75 years, the National Pecan Shellers Association (NPSA) has been committed to its stated mission: to support and promote the interest of pecan shellers and the global industry to assure quality, safety, and integrity of pecan products worldwide. NPSA has played a critical role as a solutions provider for pecan shellers by implementing…

Even though we are one month into the new year I believe many of us are still thinking of our list of resolutions. Maybe you have already made out a list and are sticking to it. Or maybe you are in the camp of people that are still trying to decide what changes you want…

The American Pecan Council, the operating group for the federal marketing order for pecans, met in Dallas, Texas on Jan. 22 to discuss staff, marketing, financial and operational updates. With 25 council members in attendance, this in-person meeting marks the first in 2018 for the council. In the two-day meeting, the American Pecan Council (APC)…

We are fortunate that in this day and age of pecan production producers have numerous tools available to help anticipate and control economic damaging populations of insects. There are pheromone traps, adult emergence traps, economic thresholds, online prediction models and a wide assortment of insecticides. However, there are some insects where detection will have to…

Hello Dolly Bars Submitted by Intisar Seraaj, pecan lover Prep 10 minutes | Total 40 minutes | Serves 12 bars Ingredients 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted 3 cups (about a 13 1/2 ounce box) graham cracker crumbs 2 cups (about 12 ounces) dark or semisweet chocolate chips 2 cups (about 8 ounces) pecans,…