Pecan investments
For the first time in 120 years, pecans are priced high enough for consideration as a sound investment. Interest in pecan orchards is at an all-time high. From the mid-1960s until the late 1990s, investors purchased pecan orchards because of great IRS tax advantages. One could purchase a bearing orchard, then use tax credits and...
Read moreCropland 18% of U.S. total
The USDA Economic Research Service recently reported, “The United States has a total land area of nearly 2.3 billion acres. In 2007, the major land uses were forestland at 30%; grassland pasture and rangeland at 27%; cropland 18%; special uses (primarily parks and wildlife areas) 14%; miscellaneous uses (like tundra or swamps) 9%; and urban...
Read morePecan Investments
For the first time in 120 years, pecans are priced high enough for consideration as a sound investment. Interest in pecan orchards is at an all-time high. From the mid-1960s until the late 1990s, investors purchased pecan orchards because of great IRS tax advantages. One could purchase a bearing orchard, then use tax credits and...
Read moreTime Marches On
I have just finished reading the first column I wrote for Pecan South. That was March of 2005, 7 years ago. It is interesting to see what has run true with what I wrote and what I was dead wrong about. Sometimes one has to study history to learn what not to do in the future...
Read moreSara Hines, former head of SEPGA, passes away
Sara Virginia Hines, former executive secretary of the Southeastern Pecan Growers Association, passed away on Nov. 11, 2011 just a few months before she would have been 100 years old. Mrs. Hines was well known within the pecan industry for her energetic and gracious leadership. Her son, Chesley Hines Jr., provided the following obituary, which...
Read moreGeorgia Pecan Commission introduces AntioxiNUT campaign
The Georgia Pecan Commission has launched health-focused promotion and education programs to support Georgia’s 2011 fall pecan harvest. The Commission has recently initiated a new campaign to educate consumers about the high content of antioxidants in pecans. “The goal is to motivate consumers about the positive health benefits and the high Georgia Pecan Commission introduces...
Read moreEase into new cultivars
The recent booming pecan market has led to a renewal of the pecan industry. Acreage is on the rise and new people are looking to pecans as a crop and as a wise investment. With this, has come a great interest in pecan cultivars, particularly the new ones. I have kept largely silent on this topic...
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Project Addressing Aphid Resistance to Imidacloprid
Results of studies recently conducted in Texas indicate that blackmargined aphids may be showing resistance to the commonly used neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid, which brings us to the purpose of this month’s column: IPM and Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM) of pecan aphids. Pests’ resistance to pesticides has been a major problem since pesticides have existed. Insecticide-resistant...
Read moreNative Treasures
During 2010 over 45 million pounds of native pecans were harvested in the United States. This production had a value of over $60 million dollars. With an estimated one million acres of native pecan timber, there is a huge potential to increase farm income from managing these trees. Often times, native producers do nothing to...
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