Weevil management strategy important in native pecans
Growers of native pecans are well aware of the need to manage the pecan weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) for prevention of unacceptable infestations of weevil larvae in harvested nuts. Previously, I reported on the dynamics of pecan weevil populations in the Mount orchard of 300 acres of non-irrigated river-bottom populated with about 3,000 native pecan trees...
Read moreManaging to reduce freeze injury risk in pecan orchards in the West
Summer’s almost here and the weather is getting very warm – so it may seem a little strange to some of you to have an article about managing freeze injury. But I think folks from eastern New Mexico and parts of western Texas will consider this to be a very timely topic, as they are...
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Orchard renovation: Thurman Gibson
Forty years ago, when I was just a young new horticulturist with Texas A&M, I received a phone call from Glenn Huddleston, Anderson County Extension Agent, asking if I would help him and a grower decide what to do with a 60-year-old orchard that had not been managed for over 20 years. The answer was...
Read moreCold storage totals 310 million
Pecans in cold storage at the end of March 2014 included 50 million pounds of shelled meats and almost 200 million pounds of inshell pecans. When these two numbers are converted to an inshell total, the inshell equivalent of 310 million pounds remained in cold storage inventories throughout the U.S. That compares with 313 million...
Read moreCasting Shadows
Pecan trees grow every year according to their overall health and growing environment. The gains in the growth of young trees that are one to five or six years old are usually quite obvious, with branches sometimes adding two or more feet of length in one growing season. They add height to their central leader...
Read moreDid you forget about the FSMA?
Everyone has to do it. Papers pile up on your desk for a few weeks and you have to take some time to straighten up your mess before you get buried under it. As I was sorting through a rather large pile of Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) materials, I realized it had been over...
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U.S. Pecans probes European market at Alimentaria
In an effort to enhance pecan exports to Europe, the National Pecan Growers Council participated in the Alimentaria Trade Show in Barcelona, Spain for the first time in April. Those volunteers who represented U.S. Pecans at this show included Helen Watts of Young Pecan Co., Rett Salopek of 6U Farms in Las Cruces, New Mexico,...
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PNC monitoring using volunteer producers: a success story
Anyone that has tried to produce pecans, either commercially or as a homeowner will at some time realize the importance of monitoring and managing the pecan nut casebearer, (PNC) Acrobasis nuxvorella Neunzig. The impact from year to year from the larvae of this Pyralid moth can range from 100 percent crop loss by the first...
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