Green Horizons

Despite a hot, dry summer, Kansas and Missouri should harvest a combined 3.8 million pound pecan crop this fall. The nut size in many areas will be below average because of an extended dry period in July, but area wide rainfall in August will mean excellent nut fill and good kernel quality. In contrast, KS and MO harvested 5.8 million pounds in 2005 and 3.2 million in 2004.

Northern pecan growers noted a larger than normal water stage drop in early August. Nut drop during the water stage is caused by both drought stress and stinkbug feeding. This year, nut drop was especially severe for upland pecans that lack sufficient water supplies. Throughout the pecan industry, stinkbug damage seems to be an increasing problem and one that many growers are finding almost as troublesome as pecan weevil.

On a national scale, this year’s pecan crop is forecast to be well below average - 170 to 190 million pounds. The 2006 crop will be very similar in size to the national crop harvested in 2004 (186 million pounds). With very little crop carry-over from the 2005 crop on hand, pecan shellers are expected to pay prices very similar to the prices they paid for the 2004 crop. In 2004, native pecans averaged over $1.60/lb in KS and MO. At these high prices, growers will find that orchards with only a moderate crop load will be very profitable.

Now in its 60th year of processing black walnuts, Hammons Products Company of Stockton, Mo., is certainly the authority on eastern black walnut collection, hulling, cracking and sales. Hammons is the largest facility of its kind in the United States, and processed 36 million pounds of black walnuts last year.

Tom Rutledge, Hammons Products, anticipates a similar yield this year. The company opened black walnut hulling stations on Oct. 2, and is paying .13 a pound (after hulling weight) for wild nuts, and approximately .50 to .60 per pound for nuts from improved cultivars.

Nuts are only accepted in the hulls, and 262 hulling stations are available in 16 states. A listing of hulling stations by state is available from the Hammons web site: http://black-walnuts.com.

Excess nuts are stored for processing and sales at a later time. Rutledge said Hammons is still processing from last year’s harvest, and "that’s a good thing."

Hammons sells black walnuts to wholesalers, grocers and retailers across the United States.

For more information, visit http://black-walnuts.com; or call (888) 4-bwnuts.