Issue Cover

In Memory of Roger William Baker

Roger William Baker, age 77, of Tishomingo OK, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, August 21st, 2025. Roger Bill was born on March 21st, 1948 in Tishomingo, OK to Roger Guy and Arvetta Moore Baker. He was a resident of Tishomingo all his life. He was a proud graduate of Tishomingo High School. Roger...

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Texas Pecan Growers Association Conference & Trade Show

The Texas Pecan Growers Association hosted a successful multi-day conference in Denton, Texas, bringing together growers, industry professionals, researchers, and exhibitors for a packed schedule of events. The conference officially kicked off with board meetings and trade show setup, followed by a lively grand opening reception that featured fundraising activities, including a raffle and silent...

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The Returns to On-Farm Shredding

In our second article of this series, we explored the economics of on-farm hedging or pruning. We applied capital budgeting to evaluate the economic viability of investing in a mechanical hedger. This analysis allowed us to understand the potential returns associated with investing in hedging equipment. In this article, we turn our attention to the...

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August 2025 Letter From the Editor

It’s been a packed summer, and we’re all in it together. After attending both the Tristate Pecanference and the Texas Pecan Growers Association Conference and Trade Show, we’ve heard from great folks and seen early crop estimates rolling in. Check out the table below and tell us, what’s your crop looking like?

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Figure 1A. Leaf spot disease on Carya illinoinensis and morphology of Neopestalotiopsis chrysea. (A) Infected Carya illinoinensis leaves; (B-C) fungal colony on PDA (Potato dextrose agar-a medium used in the laboratory for culturing microbes, especially fungi), 5 d growth from single conidia, from above and below; (D) conidia; Bars of D=10mm; (E) conidiogenous cells; Bars of E=10mm; (F) conidial masses; Bars of E=200mm; (G) pathogenicity test; leaf spot symptoms on detached leaves; (H-I) leaf spot symptoms on potted seedlings. (Pictures and picture description were obtained from Wu et al., 2020)

The Emerging Faces of Pecan Leaf Spots Outside of the United States and Implications for American Pecan Production Systems

Introduction Leaf spots on pecans are known to come in different forms and shapes. The more common spot diseases known to occur in the US pecan production landscape are pecan brown spot caused by Cercospora fusca, Gnomonia leaf spot caused by Gnomonia nerviseda (or G. dispora), downy spot caused by Mycosphaerella caryigena, zonate leaf spot...

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Pecan nut casebearer damage to a pecan nut cluster. (Photo provided by Ted Cottrell)

Late-Season Pecan Pest Management

Late-season pecan pest management generally concerns multiple pest species, each capable of causing economic damage.  During the early to mid-season, most of these pests remain below economic thresholds or, as in the case of the pecan weevil, are not present. Except for the pecan nut casebearer (PNC) in Texas and westward from there, early to...

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Figure 1. Symptoms of Pecan Bacterial Leaf Scorch on leaves in a mature canopy. Light brown necroses occur on leaf tips and edges. Moderate defoliation of the canopy has occurred.

The USDA ARS Pecan Breeding and Genetics Program is requesting participation in a survey for research focusing on Pecan Bacterial Leaf Scorch (PBLS) Disease!

Pecan Bacterial Leaf Scorch, or PBLS, is an agriculturally significant disease of pecan. Unlike other damaging diseases that are more geographically isolated, such as pecan scab, PBLS is widespread across the entire pecan industry. The disease has been positively diagnosed in pecan orchards located in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia.  The disease...

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Solicitation for weevils printed in May Pecan South.

Why we Want ALL your Weevils

  You may have noticed in previous issues of Pecan South an “advertisement” towards the back of the magazine asking for “ALL your weevils”. (If you haven’t, we have included the same advertisement here.) This article will explain why we want your weevils and how it will benefit pecan growers across the south.

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Photo courtesy of ProvisionUS, featuring the newly painted Keo Water Tower with our signature pecan-in-the-O logo.

Hitching Our Wagon to Pecans

In the last couple years, Keo has leaned all the way in. We’ve declared ourselves the Pecan Capital of Arkansas, and we’ve rebranded our annual winter gathering as the Arkansas Pecan Festival. But this isn’t just about throwing a party—it’s a strategy for community revitalization. Sure, we’ve got pies—Charlotte’s classic pecan pie and her now-famous Governor’s Pie, a...

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