2017 Marketing Guide—September edition

I don’t think I’ve ever visited a native pecan producer that doesn’t have a favorite tree in their grove. More than likely, he has propagated additional trees of the family’s favorite native pecan with the dream he’s discovered the next big pecan cultivar. I’ve seen a lot of these nuts and they seem to have…

Warm winters like we had over the winter of 2016-2017 can cause a variety of issues for pecans, many of which may not become obvious until the season progresses. I have been concerned about this since bud break, and we have seen some of these issues come to pass. Hopefully as the season goes on,…

Getting irrigation exactly right is one of the most important things that a pecan grower in the West needs to do. This is particularly true during the middle part of the season when we may see a couple of waves of natural fruit drop and the latter part of the season when the kernel develops….

On another hot Texas morning, Lalo Medina, 41, sits inside the small trailer office at his Bastrop farm, one of three farms that Pecan Grove Farms owns. He makes calls and sends emails. Medina and his family had driven down from Dallas for a number of days; while Medina handled farm business, his two oldest…

Our Pecan South readers probably noticed a new name in the magazine last month. Catherine Clark is now managing editor, having joined our staff in June. Two years ago, I decided a time for change was approaching and began to lay the groundwork for retirement. As of July 31, I will wrap up 36 years…

The Pecan Baton Once upon a time in pecan land, Growers sought to organize everyman Beginning in ’21 with the Texas pecan Pioneer names have carried the baton. Romberg, Benton, Bluefford, and George Ray Passed the baton as each had their day We all are beholding as each took their shift T P G A…

Born in Travis County, Texas, in 1891, K.B. Ivey grew up on a small farm near Stephenville, the seventh of John William and Roxy Kay Ivey’s fourteen children. In 1912, he traveled with two older brothers, Louis and Robert, to the El Paso Valley. His brother Louis wanted to buy cotton from Juarez, Mexico. It…

Try this easy and healthy afternoon snack from American Pecan for when the kids and grandkids come home from school or for you after a long day of work. These pecan granola bars are healthy, delicious and something everyone will love!

July 2017. During the debate sessions held at the latest INC Congress, recently celebrated in Chennai, India, the 2017/18 season world tree nut production (almonds, Amazonia -Brazil- nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts) has been forecasted at 4.2 million metric tons, up 25 percent from prior 10 years average (data referring…

The chart above shows Littlepage’s and Brookshier’s estimates from the TriState and TPGA conferences respectively. It also shows the USDA numbers of production in 2016. USDA released its annual production report for 2016 in early July. A number of states have no data reported and are marked with an “NA” instead of a “D” for…

The pecan is one of the hardest working plants on earth and needs pecan growers to work just as hard to develop kernels properly and fully. The kernel is almost all fat with little sugar or carbohydrates. Complex and arduous, the biochemistry of pecan kernel development is possibly one of the most difficult biological processes…

The annual Texas Pecan Growers Association conference was held in Frisco, once again, where attendees from across the country gathered to hear from a number of speakers, talk with friends, colleagues and exhibitors, and celebrate the TPGA Executive Vice President’s retirement. The conference opened with the pecan mini-shortcourse, a “great way to get acclimated to…

After almost 50 years of being on the farm at all hours of the day and all days of the year, regardless of weather or holidays or vacations, I must admit I am a bit skeptical of all the claims being made for all kinds of different data gathering programs, all kinds of fertilizers, additives,…

Growers, buyers and pecan enthusiasts didn’t let the threat of a tropical storm stop them from attending the annual TriState Conference in Monroe, Louisiana on June 22. With a canceled orchard tour and concerns over flash flooding and heavy rain looming, some guests and organizers worried that attendance would be low and travel dangerous. But…

During the recent Texas Pecan Growers Conference there was an excellent panel discussion on “Varietal, Physiological and Climate Effects on Pecan Quality” with panel members being state pecan horticulturists from Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and the Noble Foundation out of Ardmore, OK. During the discussion, one of the important points that was mentioned several…

For the fifth year, U.S. Pecans attended the annual SIAL China Food Show in Shanghai, China. (From left to right) Blair Krebs, Matthew Langford from Diamond Foods and Executive Director Janice Dees worked U.S. Pecans’ booth at the show. The group promotes U.S. pecans to Chinese consumers and buyers. A total of eight pecan companies attended…

A couple of months ago a long-time friend said the 2016 pecan harvest and market was the best in history. Wow, that is saying a lot.  Can pecan prices remain high and when will the supply catch up with the demand?  So what is the future?  What is going to be our major issues and…

Five of Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts’ facilities received an AA rating—the highest quality and safety rating—from the British Retail Consortium’s Global Standard for Food Safety on June 8. In response to the news, Greg Mills president of Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts said: “Over the last year, as part of our continued focus on…

It was dubbed “immersion tour” and structured to give a cadre of public relations specialists a feel for multiple facets of the pecan industry. The American Pecan Council brought its newly engaged team from the Weber Shandwick agency to New Mexico and West Texas on June 5 and 6 to introduce them to the world…

I believe that almost everyone who is involved in pecan production knows about the importance of pecan nut casebearer management and if not they should. In most years, the first generation of casebearers needs insecticide application to prevent an economic loss caused by the start of its activity. Nutlets are small and one larva can…

It is hard to believe we are already in the middle of another growing season. Just as they always are, this year has been anything but normal. First, there was the protracted bud break period due to the lack of adequate chilling hours. We had a couple of Arctic Express cold fronts this past winter,…

There is always “firsts” in the business of Cooperative Extension duties. First time seeing this. first time dealing with that. Back in early to mid-May, just after most catkins were dried up and the pecan female flower pollinated, I experienced a “first” while making farm visits with a certified Pest Control Advisor (PCA) and Certified…

The only indigenous nut to the United States, the pecan has had a long history in our great country. Native Americans were the first to cultivate and eat the pecan, and later, our founding fathers picked up on that tradition. Thomas Jefferson grew acres of pecan trees and inspired George Washington to do the same. Here…