Inspection Masters Appoints Savage as Exclusive Distributor
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...
Read moreNational Pecan Acquires Poulan Pecan Company
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...
Read morePecan Harvest Challenge for 2015
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....
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Georgia Field Day Offers Close Up Look at Research
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...
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Late Summer Shuck and Nut Problems
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...
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My “Rookie Pee-KAHN” Season in Central Texas
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...
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Texas Delegation Promotes Pecan Exports
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...
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Bacterial Leaf Scorch identified in Arizona; Survey Launched
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...
Read moreDawn of Another Native Harvest Season
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,...
Read moreNPSA Hears From Federal Agencies on Pecan Reporting
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...
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NPSA Annual Meeting
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...
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Monitoring for Invasive Pests
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...
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