Middle Georgia pecan harvest expected to be 'one of the best' in recent years

Farmers, probably more than anyone, depend on the right weather conditions for their livelihood. It can rain too much or too little. It can be too cold or not cold enough. The timing of moisture and temperature can be critical. Forceful winds are always bad.

But Mother Nature has been kind to pecan growers in Middle Georgia so far this year.

"Overall, this is probably one of the best crops in the last three or four years," said Duke Lane Jr., president of Lane Southern Orchards in Fort Valley. Lane has about 2,700 acres of pecan trees, some of which were planted by his father and grandfather.

"We had too much rain about three years ago, and then last year we had a little less rain, but we were cloudy," Lane said. "We are beginning to realize more and more just how important it is to have so many days of good hot sunshine to help the maturity of the nut and help it develop to its fullest."

Al Pearson, owner of Pearson Farm, who grows about 2,500 acres of pecan trees with his son, agreed in part, saying he would have liked to have seen fewer cloudy days at the end of September this year.

"But it's still going to be a good quality year and a good volume year," Pearson said.

Since it was so wet in 2013, pecan scab disease was a problem and caused a lot of stress on the trees, said University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service pecan specialist Lenny Wells.

"Whatever happens to a tree one year affects it the next year and sometimes for the next couple of years," he said. "This year, the trees seemed to have recovered from that."

Neither Lane nor Pearson have seen any evidence this year of the disease.

In Georgia, about 110-120 million pounds of pecans will be harvested this season, Wells estimates in a report. If that prediction holds, it will be Georgia's best pecan crop in the past three years, he said.

Georgia is ranked No. 1 in the country for pecan production with more than 145,000 acres of pecans grown in 2013, accounting for more than $315.5 million in net value, according to the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. Pecans are the only native tree nut grown in the U.S., and 80 percent of the world's pecan production is located in this country.

For the past few years, China has been a big importer of pecans from the U.S. And this year China decided to lower its import tariff on pecans from 24 percent to 10 percent, which helps growers.

It is estimated that Georgia annually exports more than 75 percent of its total production to China, according to Georgia pecan grower Randy Hudson in a Southeast Farm Press report.

Lane said the Chinese customer is "real important" to Georgia growers.

"Not only because they are using volume, but they are interested in in-shell pecans," Lane said. "So that means the growers get to fulfill that need instead of having to have the middle man shell them."

He has heard that India may be looking to import more shelled pecans.

"That's fine," he said. "I look forward to spreading pecans around the world."

'STARS LINED UP THIS YEAR'

This year the orchards had plenty of hot weather and plenty of natural water, Lane said.

"The stars really lined up this year," he said. "Early on we got the water needed to help size that nut ... then the late rains help fill that nut out."

He said it is hard to get rain during August unless there is some kind of weather disturbance that might come with high winds, which are bad for the orchards.

"You've got to be careful in this business what you ask for," Lane said.

Lane and Pearson said that as they learn more about newer varieties, they will plant some trees that mature earlier and some later. Both growers still have trees planted by their grandfathers.

"When you put a nut in the ground, it's a long-term commitment," Lane said. "Crop insurance won't cover them until they are seven years old. ... It takes three or four years to get peaches, but with pecans, you're looking at seven or eight years."

Pearson said the oldest trees he has are 100 years old, and "they are still making pecans."

Harvesting of the early varieties of pecans began earlier this month. Harvesting can go into the first of next year.

By Nov. 1, "everything that has nuts are ready," Pearson said. "Typically we harvest every orchard twice. So you will go through your orchards and come back and go through them again. We would like to finish by Christmas, but we have to have real good weather and good machinery and no breakdowns. ... We will have the bulk of them up for sure, but we might not finish completely by Christmas."

Pearson is hopeful the same weather of the past couple of weeks will hold awhile longer.

"It needs to be fall until it's January," he said, laughing.

To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223 or follow her on Twitter

The only tree nut truly native to the U.S.

The U.S. produces more than 80 percent of the world's pecans.

Trees grow 66-130 feet tall.

There are more than 500 varieties of pecans. Types commonly planted in Georgia include: Cape Fear, Desirable, Elliott, Schley, Stuart and Sumner.

Georgia's commercial pecan production began during the late 1800s. By 1948, Georgia's pecan production reached 40 million pounds.

Asian demand for pecans is strong. The Chinese refer to pecans as "the longevity nut."

Pecans contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals -- including vitamin A, vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.

With little saturated fat and no trans-fat, pecans are heart-healthy.

When choosing in-shell, chose pump pecans that are uniform in color and size. The shell should be smooth and light brown. They are perishable and must be stored to maintain the quality.

Source: Georgia Pecan Commission and the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

This story was originally published October 25, 2015 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Middle Georgia pecan harvest expected to be 'one of the best' in recent years ."