2014 Pecan Calendar For Texas
As pecan growers enter the 2014 pecan year, it is good to outline management practices and develop plans. Growers can use different types of management: establishment management, low vs. moderate vs. intensive orchard management, and native grove management. Texas production is in an alternate-bearing cycle with 2014 being the “on” year following the short 2013...
Read moreCan’t find a tree to buy? Grow your own!
Has anyone tried to buy a pecan tree lately? You almost need to hire a private investigator to track one down for you. I’ve been receiving numerous inquiries from growers frustrated with their search for the appropriate variety on the right rootstock. Because of the explosion in new pecan acreage the last few years, nurseries...
Read moreNew book features industry history, personalities
DeWayne McCasland of Goldthwaite, Texas, has just published a new book entitled “They Must Have Been Nuts: The Innovators, Speculators and Giant Personalities Who Created the Modern Pecan Industry.” The hardback is 146 pages of interesting reading with chapters covering “From the Beginning to the Present”, “Step-by-Step the Pecan Industry Moves Forward”, “Risk”, “Growers”, “Accumulators”,...
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Pecans enjoy more positive publicity
The November issue of Saveur magazine, featured Georgia pecans in a 7-page article called “Southern Belle: The pecan, the South’s favorite nut, adds buttery, earthy richness to all sorts of holiday foods.” Saveur is a food, wine and travel magazine that specializes in various world culinary cuisines. More than 1.5 million people read the magazine...
Read moreDon’t over-manage young trees
We’ve seen an incredible number of pecan trees planted over the last few years and at this point, it’s not slowing down. As the planting of pecan trees across the southeastern pecan belt continues this winter, I thought it would be a good time to discuss some of the issues I’ve dealt with over the...
Read moreTeaching the world to eat pecans
Editor’s note: this article was posted on USDA’s “Blog” on Dec. 18, 2013, by Kent Politsch, Chief, Foreign Ag Service Public Affairs. The pecan industry has also been utilizing MAP (Market Access Program) funding for the past three years to develop export markets. The 2014 MAP allocation, along with significant contributions from growers and shellers,...
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A look back and a look forward to what pecan industry can be
Our industry is at a crossroad. Let me begin with two stories that are insightful and revealing. At the WPGA conference in Las Cruces in March of last year, over a breakfast conversation with Dick Walden about the state of our industry, he mentioned an article that he had written in the 1990s entitled “The...
Read moreChanges proposed for key provisions of FSMA affecting farmers
Editor’s note: Michael Taylor is a Deputy Commissioner with the Food and Drug Administration. He issued this statement on Dec. 19, 2013 FDA appreciates and takes very seriously the extensive input we have received from produce farmers and others in the agricultural sector on the proposed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules on produce...
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