Global pecan supply is tight: Hurricane hits the United States, Georgia orchards are severely damaged

The harvest in the southern United States and northern Mexico had just begun in October when Hurricane Helena hit. Helena is the second deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, second only to Hurricane Katrina, which hit the United States in 2005. Georgia, the state with the highest pecan production in the United States, suffered damage to a large number of orchards, and fallen pecan trees were everywhere. The University of Georgia Pecan Office estimates that the loss rate of pecan orchards in Burke and Jefferson counties in the northeast of the state is as high as 90%. In addition, the loss rate of pecan orchards in Emanuel County is 75%. Nuts Global Market Information reporter interviewed Mary Mikelyn, executive director of the Georgia Pecan Growers Association Bruorton, she said that growers on the east side of Interstate 75 in Georgia suffered huge losses. Many growers here have been running their own pecan orchards for their entire lives. 70% of the local fruit-bearing trees that ...