September 2018

Labor Problems & Solutions—How Some Growers Solved their Labor Puzzle

It goes like this. Troy Swift has 45 acres of productive pecan trees. He needs workers for harvest. He hires someone. This person shows up the first day, but maybe they don’t show up the next. Or they have personal or family problems that start to affect their work. Or maybe they are lazy and...

Western Pecan Production Short Course Returns to Brings Growers Back to Basics

New Mexico State University prepares to host its biennial Western Pecan Production Short Course this year on Oct. 15 through 17 at the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Held every other year, the Western Pecan Production Short Course brings pecans to the classroom during a time of year when nuts...

2018 Marketing Guide—September

September Pecan Priorities

Each month we need to determine and accomplish our highest pecan priorities first. What we do in April is totally different from what we do in August, so what are our must do jobs today? In our Texas A&M orchard, we have a bumper crop on 34-year-old Pawnee trees. This year we had to nut...

Letter to the Editor: “LET’S GET OFF OUR SHUCKS!”

LET’S GET OFF OUR SHUCKS! We have spent a lot of time and money building China into such a good customer. They love our product; they pay their bills; they want more as we produce more. Now, the president’s policies are going to spoil all that. It might be a real struggle to get this...

Macronutrients: Keep the leaves healthy to feed the kernels

The two months or so leading up to nut maturity that we are now in are an extremely active period for a pecan tree. We will see the fruit make a transition out of the water and gel stages into the kernel fill stage. And then during this important stage of nut development, the seed...

Responding to the China Market’s Status, USPGC Searches for Alternatives

Over the course of the last few months, pecan operations in China have become more complex as increased tariffs and new laws come into effect. U.S. pecans’ existing price disadvantage in China became significantly greater on July 6, when China responded to the Trump Administration’s tariff threats by adding another 25 percent to the already...

September Advertisers

Letter from the Editor: “Some Harvest Season Resources”

Dear Readers, As we race against the deadline for harvest, this season appears to be one that many believe will make or break us. I hope this month’s issue can help you find a reprieve from the stress of harvest preparations and the fear of this year’s market. Even with these looming concerns, I’ve heard...

Chinese Pecan Demand: Short Term or Here to Stay?

While I don’t get to attend as many pecan grower association meetings as I would like, I always find the conversations and comments interesting. Some of the more interesting comments that I regularly hear include: “Pecans will always be the highest priced nuts”; “The Chinese market is only going to get bigger because they can’t...

Beware of Late Season Issues Resulting from Inadequate Irrigation

We are nearing the end of the 2018 growing season but still have some issues to be concerned with. The relatively large ‘Stuart’ crop brings to my mind some issues that we almost always see when ‘Stuart’ trees are heavily loaded, but they are also issues that growers tend to forget about until they show...

Pecan Weevil: Historical Texas distribution records and the Texas Quarantine

The pecan weevil has always been an important production pest, but over the past four or five years, the pecan weevil has received a lot of attention due to new county detections in Texas and the ongoing problems it is causing in New Mexico. This insect is indigenous to North America with distribution, as reported...

Tribute to Dr. Jesse Cocke, Retired Extension Entomologist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Texas A & M AgriLife Extension Service lost another one of their Distinguished Retired Entomologists when Jesse Cocke, Ph.D., was called in for his next assignment in the vast gardens of heaven on May 23, 2018. Cocke was a great Extension Entomologist and an even better scientist! Jesse Cocke, Jr. was born on Sept. 29,...

From Personal Experience, Some Tips for Launching a New Website

People often ask me how we sell our pecans. Are we predominantly selling wholesale, through our retail store or through our website? We find that for us we have to have a presence in each avenue. But a large portion of our sales still come through our website. We launched our first website in 2002....

Listening, Learning & Sharing with Industry

For many, the start of fall signals back-to-school season, the kickoff to football and a much-anticipated cool down – or for those of us in Texas, the promise and hope of cooler temperatures soon. For the pecan industry, it means the final weeks of preparation before harvest. I am hopeful that most of you enjoyed...