Chinese develop taste for U.S. pecans

As the holiday season approaches, many American home bakers will be looking for Georgia pecans to add to pies, casseroles or cookies. They won’t be the only ones. Chinese consumers will be buying, too.

“It varies, but last year Georgia growers sold close to 50 percent of their pecan crop to China,” said Greg Fonsah, an economist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “The Chinese high demand for pecans has not significantly impacted prices nationally. But it is likely that individual growers and perhaps some states may take advantage of the Chinese demand and improve their profit margins.”

Wholesale prices for pecans vary from market to market and from cultivar to cultivar. In Los Angeles, for example, pecans from Alabama, Georgia and Texas are going for between $1.15 and $1.20 per pound, Fonsah said. In New York, Georgia pecans are being sold wholesale for a $2.10 per pound.

Setting prices

Most of Georgia’s crop comes from improved varieties, which bring higher prices than native and seedling nuts. Fonsah says several factors tie into the price of pecans.

“For instance, a cultivar like Desirable might command better prices than Sumner in one area and vice versa,” he said. “Also, some states might get better prices than others depending on quality, overall cosmetic appearance, negotiation skills of the grower and targeted markets.”

In 2008, Florida growers got $1.84 per pound for their nuts, compared to the $1.47 per pound Georgia growers received, he said. But in 2007, Georgia growers got $1.06 per pound and Florida nuts sold for 96 cents per pound on average.

Georgia battles with Texas over the No. 1 spot in pecan production. “Georgia may still be No. 1, but when we get hit with low production due to disease and drought or in ‘off’ years, Texas is No. 1,” he said. “This is an ‘on’ year for pecans, though.”

Economics of nuts

Georgia growers will harvest an estimated 90 million pounds of pecans this year, or 29 percent more than last. Nationally, production is up 59 percent, Fonsah said.
“This will definitely affect overall prices,” he said. “The price of nuts is lower during a good production year and higher during a bad production year. Volume has a direct impact on prices, and since pecans have an alternate-bearing pattern, this helps fluctuate the prices.”

That’s simple supply and demand economics.

Buyers who sell to the gift-box market get the highest prices for pecans and other nuts, said CAES agricultural economist Wojciech Florkowski.

“These are always the best quality nuts in terms of kernel size and color,” he said.

He says the current economic situation in the U.S. will also affect pecan sales this holiday season.

“The demand for pecans and nuts in general will be affected by household incomes,” Florkowski said. “Incomes have declined as compared to previous years, but older consumers are continuing to buy nuts with their health benefits in mind.”

By Sharon Dowdy
University of Georgia

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Right Variety, Timing Key to Backyard Pecans

Many people fail to realize the potential problems facing the successful production of pecans in home or backyard orchards. They think that all pecan trees are alike.

The backbone of any backyard orchard should be the selection of varieties. All of them have good and bad qualities. For a low-input producer, like most home pecan growers, in the Southeast, disease resistance should be top priority. Our climate is favorable for the development of a disease called pecan scab, which can annihilate a crop, especially during wet summer weather.

There are no controls available to fight scab for the backyard pecan grower. Resistant varieties such as Excel, Elliott, Sumner, Gloria Grande, Gafford, Jenkins and Amling should be planted to escape this devastating disease. Pecan scab is minimized by dry weather, which can benefit scab-susceptible varieties.

Fertilizing pecans can be a complicated matter. Because pecan trees are a perennial crop, which means they produce a heavy crop every other year, there is often considerable carry-over of nutrients from a year with a light crop into one with a heavy crop. Trees that are well managed can actually go for several years without fertilizer before any reduction in yield or tree health is noticed.

When bearing a light crop, the trees don’t use a lot of energy. If adequate fertility is provided, the excess energy from these nutrients is stored. This helps produce a larger crop the following year. For this reason, pecan trees require less fertilizer in “off” years, or years with a light crop.

For a backyard tree, apply 4 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer for every inch of trunk diameter up to a maximum of 25 pounds in years when a heavy crop is expected. When a light crop is expected, this rate can be cut in half.

Apply the fertilizer in March or April by broadcasting over the area beneath the tips of the branches. The roots often extend out to twice the width of the canopy. Avoid applying fertilizer near the base of the trunk. An excessive concentration there can damage feeder roots.

Pecan trees can use a lot of water, particularly in late summer. Water mature trees during the first two weeks of September. Too much water from May to mid-August can lead to large nuts, which will make it difficult to develop high quality kernels for harvest in fall. If the tree bears a light crop, the water requirements for that tree will be less.

The pecans on a tree that is bearing a heavy crop can develop problems, too, such as undeveloped or fuzzy kernels or shuck deterioration late in the season. This results from the lack of access to adequate water and nutrients for the large crop the tree is bearing. Aside from proper water management, little can be done to correct this problem.

A variety of insects can attack pecan trees. The most problematic for the home grower is the pecan weevil. It chews through the shuck to lay its eggs inside the pecan nut. The larvae eat the nut.

When the nut falls to the ground, the immature insect emerges and burrows into the ground where it develops into an adult. The adult weevils emerge from the soil with late summer rains and crawl up trees in search of more nuts. Spray Sevin on the ground and at the base of the trunk to control them.

Backyard pecan production requires the producer to be wise and efficient with when, where and how they provide inputs for their trees. This can be of economic and environmental benefit.

By Lenny Wells
University of Georgia

Lenny Wells is the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension state pecan specialist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.