Update on International Tree Nut Council Health Research

The pecan industry contributes at least $50,000 annually to the International Tree Nut Council’s Nutrition Research and Education Foundation. These funds are provided by the National Pecan Shellers Association, Georgia Pecan Growers Association, Texas Pecan Growers Association and Western Pecan Growers Association, and have been for a number of years. The mission of INC NREF…

Mexico’s Jimenez Pecan Growers Association hosted its fifth “Jimenuez” conference in September under sunny skies and with a promising harvest on the horizon. The trade show and educational program were again held in the Las Palmas orchard owned by the Uriona family. Growers from throughout the state of Chihuahua participated and pecan buyers were out…

Long-time Texas pecan grower and industry supporter, LeRoy Olsak, 92, passed away on Oct. 5, 2015, in a San Angelo, Texas nursing home. Olsak only farmed 40 acres of pecans in Schleicher County but he made a large impact on the state’s industry. His orchard, planted in the early 1970s, steadily turned out prize-winning pecans….

José Juan Fuantos grows pecans in the Mexican state of Chihuahua west of the city of Jimenez, along the Parral River. His quest is for top quality nuts and, as he cut pecans in late September so that visitors could assess the nut fill, he was not quite satisfied with what he saw — which…

Well, it is that time of year and time for me to re-run this article as a reminder about post-harvest insect monitoring tools. With harvest underway and pecans being cracked, shelled, processed and stored, I feel that this is a good time to address stored-product pests. As producers, processers, wholesalers and retailers strive to produce…

Our 2015 crop at the Texas A&M orchard is in dire stress and needs water. We have/had a great crop on ‘Pawnee’, ‘Desirable’, ‘Kanza’ and some USDA hybrids. All other varieties have a zero crop. Our season started great with more spring rain than ever. The early season foliage was great. We learned how beneficial…

By mid-September, the limbs of our native trees were bending down under the weight of an excellent nut crop. But it wasn’t until the leaves fell in early November that I could really see the size and quality of the 2015 crop. Back in 2012, extended drought shrank the size of our native nuts causing…

JIMENUEZ — On the road approaching the Jimenuez conference, on the outskirts of Jimenez, Chihuahua, one gets a glimpse of the impressive cleaning plant that is nearing completion, above. Several growers have partnered to invest in the facility, which was operational for cleaning last season. Significant, secure storage space is also available for growers who need…

LINWOOD NURSERY CELEBRATES 100 YEARS — Linwood Nursery of LaGrange, California marked its first 100 years of service to the pecan industry with a Grower Appreciation Day on Oct. 16. Attendees were treated to breakfast, an educational program, lunch and tour. In top photo, Jason Hall, left, and Joel Hall were presented with resolutions from…

U.S. PECANS IN TURKEY — U.S. Pecans were represented at World Food Istanbul in September. Turkey has a great deal of interest in pecans and will continue to be focused on in next year’s export promotions, funded with MAP (Market Access Program) money from USDA. The Turkish child pictured below was a walnut fan and…

There is a myriad of things that can cause leaf scorch on a young pecan tree including drought, water-logging, nutritional deficiencies, fertilizer burn, herbicide injury, bacterial leaf scorch, nematodes, anthracnose and other minor foliar diseases, etc. It can be and often is difficult in many cases to sort out the problem. Isolated incidents are usually…

At the recent European Nutrition Conference in Berlin, organized by the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council, 4 international researchers presented the latest findings on nuts and health to the media. They have shown that the consumption of nuts can prevent Metabolic Syndrome (a group of metabolic abnormalities that includes abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, elevated blood…

Inspection Masters LLC has announced that Savage Equipment Inc. has become the exclusive sales and marketing distributor for all I.M. pecan sorters throughout the U.S., Mexico and South Africa. The appointment is effective immediately. Inspection Masters LLC has been the leading supplier of optical sorting equipment for pecan growers for over 15 years. Savage Equipment…

FRISCO, Texas — National Pecan announced on Aug. 4 the acquisition of Poulan Pecan Company of Poulan, Georgia. The purchase, which includes the Poulan Pecan Company processing facility and brand, is the first of its kind for National Pecan and is a major milestone toward the company’s vertical integration goals. “At National Pecan, we feel…

The Texas A&M pecan harvest for 2015 is upon us and there are many concerns as to how the crop will develop from now until Dec. 7 when the nuts are in the barn and ready to sell. The year started out great with rain, lots of rain; the most spring rainfall in 50 years….

At the beginning of September, growers in Georgia converged upon the USDA/ARS Fruit and Tree Nut Research Lab in Byron, Georgia for the Georgia Pecan Growers Association annual fall field day. Attendees were treated to a few presentations inside the lab, but the bulk of the day was spent in the research orchards to update…

Last month, Monte Nesbitt gave us an overview on the importance of maintaining good foliage in pecan trees and a description of the insects and diseases that can cause defoliation in pecan orchards in the southeastern U.S. I thought it would be a good idea to follow up his article with a discussion on shuck…

Greetings, I am new to the world of pecans — as such, I am a “pecan rookie”. So, the first question is, what is the correct pronunciation of pecan? The dialects for this nut vary across the U.S. Is it pee-KAHNs, pee-CANs, PEE-cans, or pick-AHNs or some other pronunciation to describe this nutritional nut? It…

Three Texas pecan growers and a representative of the Texas Pecan Growers Association met up with Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller and TDA’s Carlos Guerrero in Shanghai in August to promote pecan exports to China. “There has long been an international dialogue between Texas and our counterparts across the globe,” Miller said in a statement…

In late June of this year the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension’s Plant Pathologist, Dr. Mary Olsen, was contacted to come visit a problematic pecan tree in southeast Arizona. The symptoms on the leaf seemed to resemble a salt toxicity issue, with marginal leaf necrosis. However, through further investigation, it seemed that there were more…

The dawn of a new harvest season is upon us; in fact, the varmints have already captured those early maturing native pecans. More times than not, they get them long before we even know they are ready. What a crazy year it has been again — starting off wet, almost too wet in some areas,…

The National Pecan Shellers Association held its annual meeting Sept. 10-12 in Washington D.C. and took advantage of the opportunity to invite spokesmen from federal agencies to update the group on issues of interest to the pecan industry. Three speakers addressed various aspects of reports pertinent to the pecan industry and fielded questions from the…

NPSA ANNUAL MEETING — At left, past NPSA chair Helen Watts presents a pecan bowl to outgoing chair Jerry Dowdy as a token of NPSA’s appreciation for his leadership of the association. Bruce Caris is incoming chair. Below, Tony Halstead and Daphne Schauber of USDA answered questions on pecan reporting during the Sept. 10-12 event…

In working with the Texas pecan IPM program for many years, I direct most of my time to assist producers with managing the usual production pests such as pecan nut casebearer, pecan weevil, aphids and stink bugs. However, I have always felt that it is just as important to keep watch on the horizon for…