Expect to shell out more for pecans at the checkout this year
By Elliott Minor
Associated Press
WESTON, Ga. — Tammy Merritt says people who shop at her family's country store for fresh pecans aren't happy when they see the prices.
Elliott Minor • Associated Press
Tropical storms that swept through the South this fall toppled trees and shook loose many unripe nuts, helping create tight supplies and record-high prices for the peak holiday season. Recent rains in Texas added to the problem.
John Merritt, left, and his brother Richard check freshly shelled pecans at their plant in Weston, Ga. Storms that swept through Georgia in September took a toll on this season's pecan crop.
"We have a lot of travelers," said Merritt, secretary-treasurer of Merritt Pecan Co. "A lot of them are upset about prices. ... They've never seen them this high before."
The company sells shelled pecans from its store in Weston, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus, and ships the nuts to pecan lovers as far away as Israel and Hong Kong. Halves that retailed for $5.99 per pound last year are now selling for $6.49 per pound, Merritt said.
She's seen them selling in a grocery store for $7.29 per pound. "They looked like last year's crop. They didn't look very fresh," she said.
Pecans in the shell are running $3 per pound, compared with $2.49 last year, Merritt said.
University of Georgia economist Greg Fonsah said that growers are receiving between $1.20 and $2.15 per pound for pecans in the shell, and that the average price is a record $1.67 per pound.
Georgia and Texas are the country's two biggest producers, accounting for more than half of the nation's pecan crop. The nation's growers will produce about 189 million pounds this year, about 33 percent less than last year, according to Agriculture Department estimates.
Georgia growers are expected to harvest about 40 million pounds this year, some 17 million pounds less than originally expected and the lowest production since a drought in 1998. Texas was expecting a crop of 55 million pounds, but rains in the last month could drop that total to 45 million, according to Dewayne McCasland, manager of Pecan Producers Inc. of Goldwaithe, Texas, a cooperative of 300 growers in mostly Texas and Oklahoma.
"The orchard floors are too wet to get machines in (to harvest the nuts)," said Cindy Wise, executive director of the Texas Pecan Growers Association.
Joey Collins, owner of Collins Pecans in Thomasville, Ga., said the storms left him with about one-third of a normal crop.
Besides growing pecans, he buys the nuts from other orchards and normally ships 3 million to 4 million pounds to customers around the country each year. This year, he's paying up to $2 per pound for pecans and may ship only 1 million pounds.
Pecans have traditionally been associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas, but with recent health studies showing they are a good source of fiber and contain nutrients like oleic acid, which can reduce bad cholesterol, growers say they now see strong demand throughout the year. Still, per-capita pecan consumption has remained steady at nearly half a pound a year since 2000 — while almond consumption has soared.
