By Clint Thompson
Any rainfall at this point in the production season will benefit Alabama pecan farmers, especially considering the prolonged dry period in August.
That’s why the potential rain amid Hurricane Francine’s trek northward last Thursday had Bran Futral, Alabama Pecan Growers Association president, excited.
“I would tell you probably, this summer, we’ve got irrigation, and early in the spring we got plenty of rains to fill the reservoirs we pull the irrigation from, but we probably had two inches in the past 45 days. It’s absolutely brutal,” Futral said. “What’s interesting about shuck split is, if it’s real dry, it’s not that those things dry out, it’s actually a chemical reaction, and you’ve got to get moisture to activate those shuck openings. I think after this rain, we’re about to start picking up some nuts, so we’re excited.”
According to the latest release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of Alabama was at least moderately dry with severe dry conditions being observed in Northwest Alabama and Southeast Alabama. Alabama’s pecan crop had progressed, though, despite the prolonged dry spell.
“We’re blessed. We’re managing. It’ll be a good crop, but we’ve had to really stress out our water resources,” Futral said. “What’s interesting, too, is where we’re at, we’re like two weeks behind South Alabama. (A South Alabama farmer) is sending me pictures of his Elliott (varieties) starting to split. He’s about to start shaking trees. We run two or three weeks behind, but we’re ready.”