Pecan Growers in the Southern Plains Looking at Robust Harvest Season
Wind storms earlier this year, coupled with a late spring freeze in 2021 and an early fall freeze in 2022, have wreaked havoc on Oklahoma’s pecan crop the past couple of years, but the 2023 outlook is good with harvest on the horizon. Becky Carroll, Oklahoma State University Extension senior specialist, fruit and pecans, said the National Pecan Shellers Association predicts this year’s crop estimate at 22 million pounds, which is above the average of 17 million pounds in Oklahoma.
“Pecan production is big in Oklahoma. It may not be as big of a commodity as wheat or cattle, but according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service Census of Agriculture, Oklahoma has 1,878 pecan farms that total 96,000 acres of land dedicated to pecan production,” Carroll says. “About 75% of the pecans grown here are native pecans, but the improved varieties are gaining ground due to large new plantings and to urban sprawl where native groves are being replaced by housing and commercial businesses. With the large turnout at the pecan field day recently featuring native pecans, landowners are still interested in learning how to manage our wild, natural production, too.”
Producers have struggled the past couple of years, and some growers are still recovering from the freezes in 2021 and 2022 and recent drought conditions. Carroll says trees tend to shed a lot of pecans before they mature in a drought, and those that do mature are typically smaller.
“If they’re too small, commercial shellers don’t want to purchase them,” she adds. “It doesn’t affect the taste, but it takes a lot more pecans to make a pound, which is more work for the shellers.”
RELATED CONTENT: Optimistic Outlook for Quality and Pricing of California Walnuts
Carroll says the pecans were late ripening in 2022 because of the drought, and the early freeze in October took out much of the crop. The pecans froze in the shuck and weren’t viable. In 2021, the late freeze damaged buds growing on the trees.
“Pecans need about 54 inches of water in a season, and we might average 35 inches total in central Oklahoma,” she says. “Last summer’s drought was brutal for producers. Most orchards right now don’t have irrigation, but many people planting new orchards are installing it. Irrigating native groves is not economically feasible.”
For more, continue reading at extension.okstate.edu.
Subscribe Today For
