Nuts
The primary nut crop in Mississippi is pecans. Pecans are native into the Delta region but have a long history in other areas of Mississippi as well. Some of the first publically available improved varieties came from south Mississippi, making that region the epicenter of today’s modern pecan production. Overall, Mississippi ranks in the top 10 states for pecan production, with average yields between 2 and 4 million pounds per year. There has been a resurgence in interest in pecans recently due to the increase in consumption and price. New orchards are being planted and many abandoned pecan orchards could be put back into production with some intensive management. Other than pecans, nut crop plantings are minor. Black and English walnuts and Chinese chestnuts make up the majority of those plantings.
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News
CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. -- Producers interested in season extension for specialty crops and commercial strawberry production can learn about these topics during an upcoming field day.
The Season Extension and Commercial Strawberry Production Field Day will be April 4 at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station, located at 2024 Experiment Station Road in Crystal Springs. It begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m.
RAYMOND, Miss. -- Despite timely rains throughout the summer, late-season drought is pushing back pecan harvest for most Mississippi producers.
"We thought we were going to be early with our harvest this year when our nuts set early this spring," said Max Draughn, owner of Bass Pecan Co. in Raymond and president of the Mississippi Pecan Growers Association. "We had rains every week up until Labor Day. Then we had no rain. We went into slow motion when it got dry."
RAYMOND, Miss. -- The Mississippi Pecan Growers Association will host a spring field day on May 3 in Raymond, Mississippi.
Registration for the field day will begin at 1 p.m., and the program will end at 4:30 p.m. The event, to be held at Pecan Hill Farms at 19470 Highway 18, is open to the public.
RAYMOND, Miss. -- Despite a wet spring followed by a dry summer and fall, Mississippi should have average pecan yields in 2015.
MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Mississippians love holiday recipes with pecans, but an off year may make the nuts more expensive and harder to find.
Eric Stafne, associate Extension and research professor at the Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center, said the state’s pecan crop is forecast at 1 million pounds. The state produced 5 million pounds last year, and Mississippi’s average pecan harvest is 2-3 million pounds.
