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  • As we have continued to assess the damage from Hurricane Michael we are beginning to get a clear enough picture to place numbers on the lost acreage, trees, and dollar values for Georgia pecans. We currently estimate a loss of 27,455 acres of pecan trees, which translates to a loss of approximately 17% of Georgia’s…

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  • Now that we have had more time to process the damage to pecan orchards and the pecan crop from Hurricane Michael, we can begin to refine the estimates of loss and it does indeed appear to be pretty severe. Of the top 10 pecan producing counties, based on the Farm Gate Survey, only one is…

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  • Its been a long day for Georgia pecan growers. Hurricane Michael slammed into Georgia as a Category 3 Hurricane last night after devastating parts of the Florida Gulf Coast and slowed very little until it got well into our state. Winds near Bainbridge, GA in the Southwest corner, at the time , were 115 mph…

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  • Prepare for Hurricane Michael Cleanup

    As we all prepare for Hurricane Michael’s arrival we hope things do not turn out as bad as they appear. At this time, the storm’s forecast takes a direct route through the heart of Georgia’s major pecan production region as a hurricane or strong tropical storm when it arrives. In preparation for the cleanup, I…

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  • Crop Maturity and Leaf Senescence

    The 2018 pecan crop is virtually made. Every nut I have cut of every variety I have looked at over the last two weeks is full of kernel. By the middle of last week, in addition to Pawnee, which is about ready for harvest in many orchards, I was seeing shuck split on Lakota, Oconee,…

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  • If nothing else, 2018 has been a wet year. As far as nut scab is concerned, the frequency of rainfall really starts to matter in June and its importance continues on through the rest of the season until shell hardening occurs (or shortly after shell hardening if you grow a scab susceptible variety). During years…

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  • Thoughts On the Arrival of Shell Hardening

    We have about reached shell hardening on most of our pecans in Georgia at this point. There are a number of things that come along with shell hardening in the process of growing pecans: Expect to see water stage fruit split soon In the coming weeks you will likely see nuts dropping from the trees.…

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