By Clint Thompson
An increased nut drop of one of Georgia’s older and more established pecan varieties will impact volume this year. But growers should know this is a common occurrence with Desirable varieties, says Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Extension pecan specialist.
“There was a big drop of Desirables this year. Desirables always have a drop in June. This year, we had a pretty big drop on Desirable. But I think that’s just Desirable’s way of alternate bearing,” Wells said. “Most varieties, after they’ve had a year with a heavy crop, they just won’t put anything on the next year. Desirables, after it has a good crop, it’ll put them on the next year, and then in June is when it just drops them. It drops down to what it can handle.
“It happens every single year. Of course, growers get paranoid about it when they see it. It’s just something that happens every year with that variety. Some years are bigger than others. It’s just the tree’s way of maintaining what it needs.”
Desirable varieties are not being planted anymore, due to their high susceptibility to scab disease. Producers have to spend more on fungicide sprays to manage them effectively. But that doesn’t mean there’s not a substantial amount of trees still in production.
“It’s still, percentage wise, probably one of the larger percentage varieties that we have out there that make up the crop,” Wells said.