Texas pecan profitability handbook

At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. Pecan is an important crop in the SouthernGreat Plains.

Recent USDA cropstatistics report , acres of pecansin Texas and , acres in Oklahoma,with the majority of the acreage consistingof native pecans. Spurred on by recordprices received by growers in dueto increased global demand for pecans,many new commercial, improved cultivarorchards are being established andneglected orchards are being renovated.

Also describes life cycle, predators and diseases, species development, and commercial expansion. These may be released as new USDA cultivars. Menu Agricultural Research Service U. Search small Search.

The USDA pecan breeding program. And since there is no need to actually go to a casino, things get even better. About Us. Pecan Suppliers. Education Highlight Education is one of the purposes of the Texas Pecan Growers Association and a valued tool for pecan growers.

Our Pecan Recipes. Mature trees that have developed thick bark are much less likely to be damaged in these areas. Water and disease concerns differ across the state. In general, less irrigation is needed for orchards that are east of Interstate 35 and receive at least 35 inches of rainfall per year. However, these orchards have more disease problems and a greater potential for rainy conditions during harvest.

Orchards receiving less than 35 inches of rainfall a year have fewer disease concerns but depend more on irrigation systems to supply the 55 inches of rainfall per acre needed for good tree growth and crop production.

Even in the wettest areas of Texas, rainfall is unpredictable, and irrigation is recommended for producing good-quality pecans Fig. Pecans grow best on deep, well-drained soils that contain adequate oxygen, nutrients, and water.

Although trees can grow on shallow soil, commercial orchards are most likely to be successful if the soils are 32 inches deep or deeper.

Improved pecan varieties are recommended for each pecan production region in Texas Fig. Considerations for choosing varieties include pollination, nut maturity date, resistance to pecan scab, and market preferences. Pollination: Pecan trees are pollinated by wind. The pollen is blown from male flowers called catkins to female flowers called nutlets. On most varieties, the pollen is not dispersed shed at the same time that the nutlets become receptive.

To overcome this problem, each pecan orchard should contain two flowering types:. The ratio of the two types in an orchard need not be equal: Only 15 percent of the trees need to be pollenizers for the main variety, as long as they are distributed uniformly throughout the planting.

Small orchards may not need pollinizers if native or seedling trees are within sight of the new planting; however, large commercial plantings should include pollenizers within the orchard. Early nut maturity : Because fall freezes occur earlier in North Texas, growers there should choose varieties that produce early-maturing nuts. This trait is also important for growers in other production areas who want to get the nuts to market early in the harvest season.

Marketing outlets : Choose varieties that will best meet the needs of your intended market. Retail markets prefer large nuts with bright- colored kernels Fig. Wholesale markets look for shelling ease and high percent kernel.

Orchards should be designed to allow trees of the same variety to be harvested together, because buyers prefer uniform lots of pecans, rather than blended lots of more than one variety. To be productive, pecan trees must have ample sunlight. At least 50 percent of the orchard floor should receive sunlight at midday during the summer throughout the life of the orchard. Inadequate sunlight hinders pecan production even before the limbs of adjacent trees touch one another.

Problems include smaller nuts, lower production, reduced percent kernel, increased insect and disease pressure, and intensified alternate bearing, which is the tendency to bear nuts in 2-year cycles, with a large crop followed by a small or no crop. The initial tree spacing determines how soon an orchard will become crowded Fig. To delay crowding, plant the trees 50 or 60 feet apart. To prevent it altogether, space them 75 to feet or farther apart.

Although high-density plantings of 35 feet or less can produce more nuts early, they become crowded earlier. Options to reduce crowding include canopy hedging, trans- planting, and tree removal. Canopy hedging is pruning back the limbs in the outer canopy of the trees. To be effective, the canopies must be hedged every year using a sickle-bar or rotary blade-type hedging machine Fig.

Because of the cost and scarcity of custom contractors, hedging is usually not feasible for small orchards. Growers in Far West Texas plan for annual hedging and plant the trees 30 feet apart 30 x Orchards in other regions of the state are commonly planted 35 x 35 or 40 x 40 and are either hedge pruned or thinned by tree removal.

Some growers have used tree spades to move pecan trees. The most successful transplants have trunks that are 10 inches or less in diameter. To survive, transplanted trees must be watered carefully and pruned severely.