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The Wiregrass Farmer, October 11,2017 - IB
Hurricanes push pecan crop down, prices up
Hurricanes may have taken
a big bite out of the U.S. pecan
crop this year, but that’s not
likely to stop the annual fall
flurry of pies, candies, cheeses
and other delicacies made with
the popular native nut, officials
said.
As much as 35 percent of
the Georgia crop totaling 35
million pounds was lost during
Hurricane Irma, according to
the U.S. Department of Agri
culture. Hurricane Harvey took
about 3 million pounds out of
the Texas harvest.
But the USDA pecan report
Oct. 3 indicated that shellers
will start to get busy by next
week as harvest picks up
across the south and growers in
storm-damaged areas continue
to clear downed trees to access
orchards.
“Harvest is underway, and
we’re expecting a medium
sized crop in Texas,” said
Monte Nesbitt, Texas A&M
AgriLife Extension Service
horticulturist, College Station.
“Early price indicators are
strong that demand is high, and
supply is not as big as it would
have been across the country.”
Georgia is just about ready
to harvest.
Nesbitt said the pecan is
linked with fall and winter hol
idays because it is harvested at
that time of year. But U.S.
growers are planning to change
the seasonal consumption phe
nomena through a new Federal
Marketing Order, passed in late
2016, which will encourage
year-round uses for the nut.
“Domestic consumption
has been flat for decades in the
U.S. People eat about the same
amount of pecans they always
have, and it’s not a lot,” Nesbitt
noted. “We eat about a half
pound per person per year, so
there is a lot of room to in
crease that.”
CHINA CHANGES THE
GAME
What changed was China,
which discovered the tradi
tional southern U.S. nut several
years ago and began importing
pecans in large amounts, Nes
bitt explained.
"But soon there was a fear
in the U.S. pecan industry of
what would happen if this lu
crative, easy, change-the-game
export market goes away,” he
said. “What if China plants its
own orchards? The U.S. indus
try realized the need to do
more promotion domestically.”
To tackle that need, he said,
growers decided to band to
gether for a federal, unified
promotion.
As a result of the Federal
Marketing Order, U.S. pecan
growers and processors created
the American Pecan Council,
based in Fort Worth, to pro
mote the crop produced in 15
states from Florida to Califor
nia.
The council’s
website, https ://american-
pecan.com/, focuses on pecans
being the only native American
tree nut as a point of pride, but
also notes it’s health aspects.
“Wholesome and homegrown”
and “The Great American
Pecan” are two of the mes
sages portrayed.
Ahoy there
Matey!
Captain Joiner and his crew
are looking for shipmates to
sail in search of Reading, Writ
ing, Math, Art, Science, and
Social Studies treasure.
We will set sail October
19th at 5:30. The ship will be
in port at the TCES gymna
sium. The voyage will end at
the dock at 6:30.
Aye, aye lads and lasses!
Come dressed in your pirate at
tire. Shiver me timbers... .lots
of learning adventures lie
ahead!
Be there or ye walk the
plank!
Nesbitt said investors are
taking note of the new national
promotion effort and acreage is
expanding.
“We look at this as a key
change in the way pecan eco
nomics work,” Nesbitt said.
“Other tree nuts have had pro
motional efforts and changed
the way they were viewed and
consumed in this country.
“The pecan is still a true
supply and demand commod
ity. It is very much affected by
supplies and is tuned to de
mand,” he said. “But what
other nut crops showed in their
promotions is that as acreage
increases, so does demand. .”
That leads some to think
about getting into the pecan
business at this stage.
Most of the orchard expan
sion nationally has been in
Georgia thus far, Nesbitt said.
Georgia and Texas lead the
nation in pecan production, he
said. The USDA puts Texas
pecan bearing orchards at
100,000 acres, Georgia at
120,000 acres and the U.S.
total at 392,700 acres as of
2016.
“Prices have not been
strong enough on the natives
for people to make a lot of in
vestments in them, and there
have been questions as to
whether this marketing effort
will pull the natives along or
leave them,” Nesbitt said.
“Twenty years ago, people
thought pecans took too long
to develop and the prices were
not great. It now takes five to
seven years, and some of the
more aggressive, well-man-
aged pecan orchards see good
production the fourth year.
“That, coupled with better
prices, makes pecans a very vi
able economic option for farms
that are looking to diversify or
get into a more permanent
cropping system. And some
people just like the longevity
of pecan trees. For people who
are thinking not only about
their present situation but chil
dren or grandchildren, pecans
represent a tangible, transfer
able agricultural tree-based
business.”
But production potential all
goes back to the consumer.
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