By Clint Thompson
Pecan production in Georgia was half of what it was the year before but still more than most predicted. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pecan specialist Lenny Wells discusses the total for the 2021 crop.
“From the assessments that have come in, I’m hearing 70 million to 75 million pounds, which is a good bit more than what we expected,” Wells said.
Pecan production projections were expected to be low last year due to a couple of factors. The crop was extremely heavy the prior year. Georgia produced 147.5 million pounds in 2020. Since pecans are an alternate bearing crop, farmers were due for a lighter crop.
There were also persistent rains throughout the entire season. Constant rain events and consistent cloudy weather are ideal conditions for scab disease to thrive.
So, the expectation was for a much lighter pecan crop. Wells points out why it did not turn out that way.
“I think the increase that we see there or the unexpected amount we wound up with is a testament to the young trees that we have planted over the last 10 or 15 years and that are contributing to the crop. That’s where most of it would have come from,” Wells said. “Basically, having half of our crop come from young trees that are bearing now, better varieties, that’s going to be really good for our industry here in the state long-term.”
