By Clint Thompson
Harvest season is well underway for pecan producers in the Southeast. Growers of pecans are harvesting or are about to harvest the earliest varieties like Pawnee, Elliott, Oconee, Creek and Caddo.
Farmers can be encouraged that market prices should not dip below the levels they are currently at. That is due in large part to a familiar buyer resurfacing as an export destination for U.S. pecans.
University of Georgia (UGA) Extension pecan specialist Lenny Wells has more on China.
“Probably the most encouraging sign is that China is in the market. All the indications from the buyers are that it seems like China is going to buy a fair number of pecans this year, which will certainly help keep the price from going too far south on us too quickly, I’m hoping,” Wells said.
“It’s not really boosting the prices dramatically to get them back to the prices we were seeing back before the tariffs, but it’s keeping those prices from falling into some really troubling numbers.”
Wells elaborated on the current harvest conditions growers are seeing so far and how they have impacted the crop this fall.
“The weather has been good for harvesting. So far everything is going well. Everything seems to be opening up properly. We don’t see any problems there,” Wells said. “I’d say most everybody has been over their Pawnees once at this point.
“Everything else seems to be coming along behind that pretty well as far as the shuck split goes. It’s moving pretty well, and I think we’ll be pretty well on time with everything.”