Letter from the Editor: “Happy Holidays!”
Dear Readers, The holidays always bring forth a time of reflection on our lives, our work, and our future. We cherish moments of joy and fun while celebrating the obstacles we overcame and contemplating the challenges we faced. Harvest continues this December throughout the Pecan Belt, and as an industry, we look back on all...
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Native Pecans Garner Attention at Oklahoma Field Day
On a cool, windy afternoon, around 170 attendees participated in the Native Field Day held at Leon and Judy Bailey’s Pecan Farm. The Baileys, with their four kids and their families, own and operate a native pecan/cattle operation on over 600 acres in the Okfuskee County area (east-central Oklahoma). Their pecan barn is near Paden,...
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The Problem with Crop Estimates
For years, the U.S. pecan industry has based its annual expectations on crop “estimates,” which have been used to determine how large or small the crop may be. These estimates, in turn, have historically gone a long way toward determining the price growers receive for that season’s crop. The calculation of these estimates is inherently...
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Importance and Issues of Pecans in the Global Market
During 2022, the United States exported 14.0 thousand metric tons (TMT) of inshell pecans and 23.6 thousand metric tons (TMT) of shelled pecans (Figure 1). These exports totaled over $308 million worth of value for the industry, with $63.5 million coming from inshell exports and the other $244.6 million coming from shelled exports. Total inshell...
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Watch Out for the Flatheaded Tree Borer
Last month, an emerging pest made its way into the Lower El Paso Valley. This pest is the flatheaded tree borer. I first became aware of the borer in one location, but it appeared in more places in the following weeks. The flatheaded tree borer is a xylem-feeding insect and has been identified in multiple...
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Promoting 12 Days of Pecans with The Pe-Calendar
It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving has come and gone. We hope you enjoyed plenty of pecans on your dinner table—in and out of pie. The holidays are in full swing, and at the American Pecan Promotion Board, we’re filled with cheer for the opportunity to inspire consumers to purchase more pecans to make their season...
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A Tribute to John Lee Turner, Jr. — “Pecan John”
Oftentimes, our pecan pioneers and heroes labor in relative obscurity. John Lee Turner, Jr. was such a man. Dan York, an original APC Council Member, introduced me to John in 2015. We asked him to testify as a native pecan grower from Arkansas during the Pecan Federal Marketing Order hearings in Dallas. He graciously accepted...
Read moreTexas A&M Researchers Announce Winners from Marketing Label Study
Earlier this year, a team of researchers at Texas A&M University’s Department of Agriculture and Life Sciences invited pecan industry members to participate in a study about consumer decision-making and consumer preferences for pecans. This research arose out of the belief that understanding an expert’s ability to accurately forecast the effectiveness of marketing efforts to...
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Store Your Pecan Wisely
Pecan harvest is here, and as always, customers consider the best way to store the nuts they purchase. Renowned for their nutty, buttery flavor, a variety of essential vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and antioxidants, pecans offer unique nutrient benefits for human health. A study published in Nutrients in 2018 (Cupisti et al. 2018) showed that...
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Proper Integration of Livestock can be Beneficial to Soil Health
If handled properly, integrating livestock into an orchard can greatly benefit. As I have visited with growers over the past several years about managing soil health in their orchards, livestock integration is the most common practice pecan growers are hesitant to implement. Knowing how to graze properly to improve soil health is essential for growers...
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December 2023 Advertisers
Pecan South December 2023 advertisers share their products and services between the pages of this issue. Below, we present a full list of our December 2023 advertisers and their contact information.
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December 2023 Classifieds
The December 2023 Classifieds feature available equipment, property, trees, services, and more from industry members. These classifieds can also be viewed at the back of the December 2023 issue.
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