By Clint Thompson
The grower panel at this year’s Georgia Pecan Growers Association meeting in March allowed the state’s producers to address trending issues like low prices and potential export markets like India.
One of the main topics highlighted were current concerns felt by growers. Low prices were one, and the lack of working capital was another. It was addressed by South Georgia producer Justin Jones.
“When you look at other industries like almonds, pistachios, walnuts and that kind of stuff and you look back at the comparison to our industry, the No. 1 issue I see is capital. The capital in our industry is not near the level from a grower’s standpoint or a sheller’s standpoint, that these other industries are at. When we’re short on capital, it puts us in a bind on having to sell our product not when we want to but when we have to,” Jones said.
“If this industry was better capitalized, whether it be on the farm level or the sheller level, that creates a huge leverage that takes off all the way back to the farm.
“If there’s 10 people in this room calling me, trying to sell me pecans, why in the world would I raise the price? I’m not going to raise the price of pecans. But if I’m going to need pecans from my customer and you’re holding pecans and I have to call you, that changes the game. The leverage has swapped.”
Low Prices
Historically low prices were common during last season. University of Georgia Extension pecan specialist Lenny Wells said one grower was offered $1.50 a pound for Desirable pecan. At that rate, growers lose money quickly.
Jones admitted that gaining the leverage needed to bump up those prices will not be an easy feat.
“Everybody in this room faces 6%, 7%, 8%, 9% interest. When you have a crop out there and have spent all of your money, you want to get that interest off of you. At the same time, you’ve got to be able to utilize an outlet to sell your crop when it’s needed and not flood the market. That’s one of our bigger issues, being well capitalized to be able to hold,” Jones said. “We’re working on different programs to be able to help with it. It’s a work in progress.”