I apologize for being this late in reporting what we are seeing and hearing but I have just had my internet access restored following the storm. To say the least, the effects are absolutely devastating, not just for the pecan industry, but for many communities throughout Eastern Georgia. We’ve seen a lot of hurricanes over the last several years, but I don’t think its an exaggeration to say that this one is by far, the worst we have experienced. Wind speeds in Valdosta topped 100 mph. In Douglas-91 mph, Vidalia-77 mph, Augusta-65 mph. Those counties East of I-75 from Valdosta all the way to Augusta have experienced significant damage, some on a level we have not seen until now. The map below shows power outages throughout the SE. This map defines the damage area better than anything else I have seen.

For Georgia, there is a stark contrast within these affected areas and outside of them. For the first few days the only way into or out of many of these counties in red was to literally cut and push your way through with chainsaws and equipment. There are still areas in that kind of shape. Trees of all kinds are down all along most roads, along with power lines and cell phone towers. This has made communication within, out of, and into these locales difficult and spotty at best, which has made it hard to gather information. I would imagine that the outage scale on the map corresponds closely with the level of pecan tree damage and crop loss for most of these counties where pecans are grown.

What we are hearing from most growers is that large trees (40-50 years and up) have suffered about a 70% loss and younger trees have suffered somewhere around a 40% loss. When I say loss, I am referring to trees blown completely down. These numbers are yet to be confirmed but from what I have seen myself and gauging by what we saw from Hurricane Michael a few years ago, I don’t believe these numbers are an exaggeration. I have heard from people in the damage area who have 5 or 6 trees left standing and several who have no trees left standing. Hurricane Michael destroyed many orchards in its path but even within the storm’s path, there seemed to be more variability from one orchard to the next regarding Michael’s destruction. Helene seems to be much more uniform in it’s damage. I thought Michael would be the worst storm Georgia’s pecan belt would face in most of our lifetimes. But, Helene took the damage to a completely different level.

Of course, there are also trees that were broken up and green nuts blown from the trees. These will add to the losses. Remaining trees have also had their leaves shredded and stripped. For much of this area, I don’t think salvaging any crop that remains is a priority at this point. You can’t even get into many of these orchards. Trees and debris will have to be removed before any consideration can be given to the possibility of harvest in those orchards where it still may be possible. There will be more than a few orchards in which there is simply nothing left to harvest. Truthfully, I don’t know how much of the crop in these areas can still be harvested. Most will likely be without power for several weeks still.

By my estimation using the county level data from the most recent Georgia Farm Gate Survey, the counties in the affected area make up at least 23% of Georgia’s pecan acreage. In some counties it may be only a certain side or section of the county that is affected. For many, it is the entire county. As communications improve we will be coordinating with agents in those counties to estimate loss but that will be some time in coming. We want to be as accurate as possible with the information we put out so please bear with us.

Growers should contact their local FSA office as soon as possible to report and document damage, apply for any clean up funds, etc. In the past, FSA’s rule has been that you must contact them before beginning clean up and tree removal. However, I know this may not be an option for some growers who simply have to clear a path into the orchard. We learned from Hurricane Michael that these programs don’t move swiftly but let me assure you, the pecan industry is already working hard to get growers assistance through these and other means.