By Clint Thompson
Pecan scab disease was high this year in some areas in Georgia. Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Extension pecan specialist, highlighted what pecan-producing areas have experienced more scab than others.
“On the eastern side of the state, it’s been a little drier and so the pressure has not been as bad. We didn’t see nearly as much scab as we saw on the west side of the state. Especially as you get over around that Albany area and south down to around Valdosta, the scab was pretty bad in places, especially on Desirable and Pawnee,” Wells said.
Scab is a fungal disease that infects the leaves or nuts of pecan trees. If scab impacts the nut early enough in the production season, it can cause the nut to blacken and fall from the tree. It excels on trees that have received moisture. However, the disease’s impact is minimal once pecan shells start to harden.
Wells classified this year’s pecan season as one of the most “high-pressure seasons,” he’s ever seen.
“It’s just the rain seemed continuous in a lot of areas throughout the summer, and that makes it difficult because not only can you not get out there to spray, it also increases the reproduction of that scab,” Wells said. “It’s just really thriving in that environment. But also, when you do get out there and spray, a lot of times you get rain that afternoon. It keeps you from spraying, but it also washes off some spray that you may have just applied. Then you have to go back out there and spray again.
“It makes it really difficult to keep up, especially for growers with a good size acreage that they can’t get over quickly.”