According to the USDA Pecan Report, growers are about 90% finished with harvesting their pecan crop this season. An estimated 50% have been sold, with the rest that are of good quality and size will be stored to sell later when prices have improved.
The Pecan Report states, “Prices are about steady, and interest has increased as the push for holiday retail and domestic sales has come into play.”
Not Much Change in Prices
The updated prices are consistent with what Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pecan specialist, said they were last week.
“What I’ve been hearing, they’ve been fairly stable for the last two or three weeks. Good nuts have been selling in the range of a $1.15 to $1.35 (per pound), mostly, somewhere in that range. It doesn’t really matter what variety it is or anything. If it’s a decent nut, it’s selling in that range. Of course, the poor-quality stuff is well below $1,” Wells said.
Prices paid to Georgia growers as of Tuesday, Dec. 8 at buyers delivery point or F.O.B. the orchard including direct sales to end users, cents per pound in-shell of generally good quality in lots of 20,000 pounds or less unless otherwise stated:
Cape Fear, meat yield 53-56%, $1.25-$1.31
Desirables, meat yield 49-52%, $1.30-$1.43; meat yield 46-47%, $1.15-$1.23; yard tree lots $0.80-$1.00
Elliott, yard tree lots $0.90-$1.00
Excel, meat yield 52-55%, $1.21-$1.25
Farley, yard tree lots $0.70-$0.80
Native/Seedlings, yard tree lots $0.40-$0.50, occasional lower
Stuarts, meat yield 48-51%, $1.21-$1.29; yard tree lots, $0.50-$0.75, mostly $0.70-$0.75, few high as $0.90
Sumner, meat yield 51-53%, $1.28-$1.38, yard tree lots $0.70-$0.80
Lots over 20,000 pounds including truckloads:
Cape Fear, meat yield 49-52%, $1.23-$1.36
Desirables, meat yield 49-52%, $1.30-$1.43; meat yield 46-47%, $1.23-$1.36
Stuarts, deliveries insufficient to quote
Sumner, meat yield 51-53%, $1.28-$1.38
Georgia has experienced freezing temperatures throughout the state with wind chill factors in the teens. The rest of the week is forecasted for temperatures in the 30s-to-mid-40s with daytime temps in the low 50s-to-high 60s.