Optimistic Crowd Gathers For Gpga Meet

The Georgia Pecan Growers Association enjoyed an enthusiastic turnout for its recent annual meeting in Perry, Georgia, and speakers shared some helpful insight into issues that Georgia producers are facing. USDA’s Bruce Wood led off the program by reporting on a study focused on orchard thinning. “One of the most common mistakes is delaying thinning,”…

Jim Bennett Belding Farms Manager Fort Stockton, Texas 1922 – 2010 Jim (James Elton) Bennett, manager of Belding Farms in Fort Stockton, Texas, for 27 years, passed away on April 30, 2010 at the age of 87. Jim was a quiet strong man who provided outstanding pecan leadership for the state of Texas and the…

The attitude in Georgia about pecans is not the same today as it was 10 years ago. A strong grower market in recent years has generated an optimistic outlook and thousands of acres of new trees are being planted. Not only have several thousand acres of new trees been planted over the past 5 years,…

One of the most challenging aspects of pecan production is managing the native pecan grove. Native pecan groves are unique since no two native trees or orchards are alike. Since these differences exist, each grove must be managed differently. To successfully manage a native grove, a producer should take a holistic approach when evaluating the…

As most of you know, for many years I have been a proponent of a federal research and promotion order to collect mandatory funds to use in research and for the promotion of our product in the marketplace. I am about to change my mind on this because of problems that I perceive with our…

I wouldn’t be a pecan specialist were it not for Dr. J. Benton Storey. The procedure for acceptance into graduate school at Texas A&M University, in addition to grades and test scores, requires that a professor in the department be willing to take on a prospective student. My ticket to Aggieland was punched by Dr….

Serves 10 Ingredients: 100 large (about 6 oz. or 2 cups) pecan halves 2 Tbsp butter 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/8 tsp cayenne 1/8 tsp garam masala (or you can try curry powder or cumin) 1/2 cup sour cream (about 2 oz.) 1 cup crumbled blue cheese (about…

Program Thursday, June 17  8 a.m.-5 p.m.            Exhibitors set-up 11 a.m.            Board of Directors Meeting for Each Association 1 p.m.            Registration 2 p.m.            Welcome 2:10 p.m.            Invocation 2:15-2:45 p.m.            “Studies in Controlling Pecan Phylloxera, With Observations On Biology and Emergence – Dr. Mike Hall,LSU Pecan Research Station 2:45-3:15 p.m.            “Insect Transmission of the Pecan Leaf…

When I was hired as a soil scientist/water management research scientist at the A&M Center at El Paso almost 30 years ago, cotton was the king. To my surprise, a horticulturist at College Station, who turned out to be Dr. Benton Storey, invited me to attend the Texas Pecan Growers Annual Conference. At the time,…

With the pecan industry literally abuzz with talk of exports to China and grower groups seeking government funding to capitalize on the current interest from export markets, Pecan South is taking a look, state by state, at the future of pecan production in the United States. First up is New Mexico, to be followed by…

In May 1967, Dr. J. Benton Storey launched The Pecan Quarterly magazine on behalf of the Texas Pecan Growers Association. TPGA later also purchased Pecan South magazine, which was being published in Georgia, in 1984 and combined the 2 national magazines into one industry-wide publication. The first issue of Pecan Quarterly is pictured here, featuring…

All involved in the pecan industry are well aware of the work of Dr. James Benton Storey as he was not only a distinguished and internationally recognized Professor of Horticulture and taught the Nut Culture class, Hort 418, at Texas A&M, but also was the heart and soul of the Texas Pecan Growers Association. His…

Benton Storey in 1957 began a 45-year career with the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where he taught HORT 418 “Pecan Culture” from 1960 to 2002. He was a major advisor for 52 advanced degree students in various components of pecan science. More professional pecan scientists trained under…

It is hard to believe that it is almost that time of year when producers across Texas and other states will need to start focusing their attention on their pecan nut casebearer management program. In fact, at the time of this writing, the first PNC adults have already been collected in pheromone traps in South…

Even though the 2009 pecan crop was 100 million pounds larger than the 2008 crop, according to USDA, the average price paid to the grower went up by three cents per in-shell pound. Most industry sources attribute this to the strong demand from the Chinese export market for pecans. The strong prices were limited to…

Pecan growers can now use the web to predict pecan nut casebearer activity in their orchards and track casebearer activity across the state. The PNCforecast system is available online from Texas AgriLife Extension Service and can be accessed here. The PNCforecast system helps growers plan when to scout the orchard for first generation casebearer eggs…

USDA’s end of February report indicates that cold storage holdings of pecans grew during February from 224 to 235 million pounds, in-shell basis. That makes the end of February number this year (235 million) just slightly below the end-of-February total in 2009 (239 million). When broken down into shelled and in-shell categories, there were approximately…

Pecan exports to China doubled in 2009 compared to 2008 and have increased about 860 percent since 2006 (see Fig. 1). Prices for improved varieties increased this past, high-production season. Price improvement during a high production year is very rare due to the counter cyclical nature of production and prices (see Fig. 2). The price…

ATLANTA, Ga. – Almost every major sheller in the pecan industry was represented at the 2009 NPSA Mid-Winter Meeting, February 26-28 at the Gaylord Palms resort in Kissimmee, FL. Two days of educational programming featured experts on government affairs, consumer trends, supply chain management, resource conservation, plant management, shipping and logistics, food safety and quality control. Members…

As we start a new decade, the people in the pecan industry have as much optimism as I can ever remember, and with good reason. Prices have been good for the grower and for the sheller. Consumption is high and with the industry going into an “off” year, supplies will likely continue at a level…

It was a long cold winter. When the weather finally broke with a warm spell in mid-March, I decided to enjoy a moment of warm sunshine to walk the grove. This has become a sort of annual tradition with me, looking over the trees and reflecting on all the things we did right and all…

It is hard to believe that the 2010 season is just around the corner and with the start of this new season comes a Texas pecan tradition — the county pecan field day. These field days held during the spring across the state offer producers the chance to hear the latest in horticultural practices, IPM,…

NPSA requests support for Marketing, Promotion and Research Program ATLANTA – The National Pecan Shellers Association’s Marketing, Promotion and Research Committee thanks the 65 pecan growers (companies, individuals and state/regional associations) who contributed more than $165,000 last year to the industry’s only national program designed to expand the market for pecans. The Marketing, Promotion and…

DuPont Crop Protection recently announced an innovative application to help customers—a “TankMix App,” created for iPhone and iTouch users. The DuPont Information Technology’s (IT) Innovation Office, under the leadership of John Puckett, director, IT innovation, sponsored the project. The TankMix App provides basic math calculations for the amount of product and water needed per tank…