December 2018

Trying Again After the Storm

By now, everyone is familiar with the havoc wrought by Hurricane Michael on the Georgia pecan industry back in October. Half the Georgia crop was lost along with over 740,000 trees, resulting in a loss equivalent to approximately 17 percent of Georgia’s pecan acreage and an estimated total of $560 million in losses to the...

December Advertisers

Seasonal challenges augment the effects of overcropping

The challenges of agriculture are never-ending. From being too dry to being too wet to being too cold and always too hot, and then throw in a few hail storms, tornados, and hurricanes! Most everyday folks would never dream of taking the risks farmers take on a daily basis. Then, couple all of that with...

Wild Pigs: Another Problem for Pecan Producers

Not that producers need any more problems, but there is a major problem that can affect all types of operations. And, worst of all, it has four legs, bad habits and high intelligence. This creature is none other than the wild pig. For those who attended the 2018 Texoma Cattlemen’s Conference, I referred to wild...

Twig Girdlers: A Case of Nonselective Pruning

Every fall I receive calls and emails concerning small severed twigs under pecan trees and this year has been no different. In fact, one producer said this has been the worst year ever. As an economic pest and impact on production, the twig girdler is pretty much a nuisance. However, it can be a different...

Letter from the Editor: Time to Celebrate

Another year is coming to an end. We made it through yet again. We survived. Now some might think of that phrase—“we survived”—as rather morbid, but I look at it as a form of celebration. We did it! We made it through! We survived the hurricanes that wiped out hundred-year-old trees. We survived the heavy...

Reflect, Recognize, Resolve

The end of December is always a time of personal retrospection, looking back on the year to see what went as planned and what didn’t; what was accomplished and what wasn’t. It’s a time to think about ways we did things just right or mistakes we made and how we’re going to make next year...

National Chefs Get a Taste of America’s Native Nut at the 2018 Pecan Chefs Summit

Leveraging Kellen’s years of culinary expertise and contacts with partial funding from the American Pecan Council, the National Pecan Shellers Association hosted influential commercial and R&D chefs from nationally renowned brands and food service companies at its third Pecan Chefs Summit series on Oct. 25 to 27 in Atlanta and Albany, Georgia. The Pecan Chefs...

The American Pecan Council Inspires Americans to #PledgePecans This Holiday Season

The end of the year is a time when many of us take a moment to reflect. It has been an eventful year for the American pecan industry. Certainly, it has come with its challenges—in the form of trade wars, hurricanes, and floods. Though familiar trials for the agriculture industry, there is nothing common about...

Late-Season Challenges Threaten 2018 Pecan Quality

The great pecan crop of 2018 may be in trouble. First, there was Hurricane Michael, which went right through the middle of the Georgia pecan industry. Then harvest in Texas was slowed or stopped due to constant rains. Most growers and all buyers are concerned about the quality of the 2018 Central, South, and East...

Optimize your profit, not your price

One of the most difficult aspects of running a successful business is determining how to market and price your product. Do you adopt a retail mentality with a one price policy, selling all of your crop to retail customers? Do you adopt a multitier pricing strategy and sell part of your crop to retail customers,...