By Clint Thompson
The main theme of University of Georgia Extension pecan meetings this winter is informing growers how to cut costs. It may be through variety selection or reducing irrigation and fertilizer inputs.
Georgia growers need to reduce expenses if they are going to remain sustainable, says Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Extension pecan specialist.
“I think we’ve got to cut costs, there’s no option there. I’ve been talking about that for several years now,” Wells said. “We’re to the point where, especially with prices the way they were last year, we can’t grow them the way we’ve been growing them and make a profit. There are some things we can change and still grow the crop and do it for cheaper.
“Some of that, long term, is going to be easier because variety is the key. You’ve got to have varieties that have low scab susceptibility and high yield potential. Those two things alone will put you in a lot better position.”
Growers with mature trees can reduce their irrigation applications by 65% to 231 gallons per acre per day in April and by 50% to 462 gallons in May.
“Some of the main things we’re cutting back on are fertilizer and water. We know from many research studies that we can cut back on water and we can cut back on fertilizer and still make the crops that we want to make and do it for lower costs,” Wells said.
Hedge Pruning
Hedge pruning is also a process that can be implemented on a four-year cycle. Growers go a certain distance from the trunk all the way down the tree row, usually about seven feet or so out from the trunk and cut off everything that extends beyond that point. Producers will top the tree, no higher than 40 feet.
“The other part of the cutting back is actually cutting the tree back. Hedge pruning, which we’ve been using now for 10, 15 years here in the Southeast, offers a lot of benefits that can help cut costs. There is a cost to the hedge pruning itself, but if we can do that on a longer-term rotation, that’s going to help a lot with that cost and get us some of those benefits we need, like reducing the tree size, getting better spray coverage and reducing our wind damage,” Wells said.