COLLEGE STATION — Texas pecan producers this fall plan to shell out about $75,000 in the first of an annual program aimed at convincing consumers of the nuts’ tasty, healthy aspects.
A checkoff fund approved by Texas growers in August will take one-half cent from every pound harvested on commercial pecan orchards this year, and a nine- member Texas Pecan Producers Board elected in the referendum already has its sites on how to spend the dollars toward improving their industry.
“Tentatively, the producers board has said it will spend the money on promotion,” said Cindy Wise, Texas Pecan Growers Association executive director. “They don’t have anything specific pinpointed yet, but the health advantages is a major consideration with the entire nut industry right now.”
Wise said Errol John Dietze of Cuero is the producers board president, Kenneth Pape of Seguin is vice president and Mike Adams of Henderson is secretary- treasurer.
Despite the year’s drought, Texas will produce about 40 million pounds by the end of harvest this fall, according to Dr. Benton Storey, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station pecan horticulturist and newly elected president of the Texas Pecan Growers Association. Though the harvest will be less than last year’s 90 million pounds, it still will net about $75,000 for the new self-help program as the board spreads word to pecan handlers about collecting the checkoff.
Texas is the largest producer of native pecans, and is second only to Georgia in total production. In 1997, the 90 million pounds of improved and native pecans produced in the state brought in more than $58 million for growers, according to the Texas Agricultural Statistics Service. Pecans grow in 190 of the state’s 254 counties. More than one-fourth of the nation’s pecans are grown in Texas.
Storey said that Texas pecan growers have supported their industry in many ways through the years, such as through state pecan legislation and with personal contributions in providing orchard sites for research and demonstration plots.
“Pecan people are in the business for the long haul,” Storey said, adding that loyalty in the industry was a major factor in his choice of devoting his career to the crop.
And the sweet, brown nuts share a rich history in the state.
Pecan culture was taught at Texas A&M beginning in 1909 by Dean Kyle (for whom the football stadium is named). The pecan became the state tree in 1919 after former Gov. James Hogg, the first native Texan to be elected governor, requested that his favorite tree be planted at his gravesite. Fred Brison, who literally “wrote the book” on pecan culture, taught the topic from 1928-65, said Storey, who filled the role when Brison retired.
“So, we’ve known for long time that pecans are big in this state,” Storey said.
What has changed, Storey said, is that today’s producer realized that state funds are no longer adequate to support Texas Agricultural Extension Service programs, research and promotion on the crop that comes from the state tree.
“Funding is so short that it’s difficult to sustain a program for teaching, research, promotion and Extension,” Storey said. Without funding, he explained, the crop faces a future of continual decreases in market share and varieties that don’t hold up to environmental conditions such as drought, diseases and insects.
Wise said a national pecan referendum failed in 1994, but Georgia growers quickly started one in their state and Texas producers now have followed suit.
“The Texas crop is getting bigger, and we are seeing more pecans being imported from Mexico,” Wise said. “So the supply is increasing, but the demand is not.”
Wise said a possible misconception about pecans being full of fat may be the blame.
To face that issue, one of the first big studies for Texas pecans, Storey said, will be research confirming other studies that showed an increased in the HDL(“good” cholesterol)/LDL(“bad” cholesterol) ratio in people who consumed oleic acid (monounsaturated fatty acid) in their diets. Storey said a similar study on safflower showed that is true of the oleic acid, but the research is needed on pecans to see if they have the same effect.
“If that turns out to be so, like we expect it will, the pecan board will promote that widely,” Storey said. He will collaborate with Dr. Veronica Piziak , senior staff physician at Scott and White Clinic in Temple and professor of medicine at Texas A&M.
“We saw the need to promote our commodity,” Wise added. “No one else is fighting the battle for us.”
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