Georgia Returns as Nation’s Top Pecan Producing State

WASHINGTON, DC – In January USDA’s National Agricultural Statistic Service (NASS) reported U.S. pecan production for this marketing season (October-September) at 302 million pounds, an 18 percent year over year increase. The change in production reflects increases in domestic production in the top producing states of Georgia and Texas. NASS reported most pecan trees having little to no limb breakage from the February 2021 freeze in the Southern High Plains in Texas. Georgia has just reclaimed the title of top pecan-producing state in the U.S. after being outranked by New Mexico for the past 2 years, due in part to the recovery of their orchards following Hurricane Michael in November 2018. Pecan production is in the “off-year” of the crop’s alternate-bearing cycle, which partly contributed to the decline in production in New Mexico, (down 12 percent from 2019/20) as well as other producing States. The U.S. average grower price for pecans declined from $1.84 per pound in 2019 to $1.32 per pound in 2020 likely due to the increase in supply and high beginning stocks compared to the previous year. Import demand for shelled pecans is down slightly, while shelled imports – mostly from Mexico – are down 63 percent compared with the same period the previous season. NASS suggests the ongoing drought in the Mexican state of Chihuahua may have affected the supply. China remains one of the top markets for U.S. pecans with over a 70 percent share of U.S. in-shell pecan exports, a 75 percent increase from the same period last year.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)