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Pecan: America's Native Nut Tree

Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pecan specialist and the university’s leading voice in the pecan industry, covers the history of pecans and their popularity in the South in his first book, “Pecan: America’s Native Nut Tree.”

Read the entire story

Grower Resources

Additional UGA Pecan Research

Budgets (prepared by UGA's department of Agricultural & Applied Economics)


Pecan News

Helenedamage web CAES News
Helene Damage Assessment 10/10/24
The preliminary estimate of Hurricane Helene’s economic impact on Georgia Agriculture is $6.46 billion.
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Facts About Georgia Pecans

During the late 1800's ...

Landowners began to recognize the potential profit of pecans in the southeastern United States. By the late 1800's, several individuals near Savannah, Georgia had produced and marketed pecans on a small scale. By 1889, there were only 97 acres of pecans planted in Georgia.

Between 1910 and 1925 ...

Thousands of acres of pecan trees were planted in southwest Georgia. Most of these trees were initially planted as real estate investments rather than for nut production. Thousands of acres were sold in five and ten acre units, primarily in Dougherty and Mitchell Counties, which are still today the hub of Georgia's pecan producing counties. By 1920, Georgia was producing 2.5 million pounds of pecans.

By the 1950's ...

Georgia was ranked as the top state in the nation for pecan production.

Today ...

Georgia pecan orchards may range in size from just a few trees to several thousand acres. The state continues to be regarded as the top pecan producing state in the U.S., with over 170,000 acres planted.


From the Pecan Blog

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UGA Pecan Extension
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Importance of Irrigation for Shuck Split
While activities have been significantly impacted in southeastern Georgia’s pecan region from the damage and loss inflicted by Hurricane Helene, some growers who had minimal damage and those West of I-75 have harvested Pawnee and are beginning to harvest the next mature varieties. Many are finding that there are still a lot of green shucks […]
UGA Pecan Extension
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Southeast Georgia Pecan Damage from Hurricane Helene
A very seasoned and veteran pecan grower told me this week, “I’ve always believed if anything shut down the pecan industry it would be a hurricane.” One would expect hurricane damage in Augusta to come from an Atlantic storm, not a storm from the Gulf of Mexico. I want to acknowledge that there are more […]
UGA Pecan Extension
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Update on Hurricane Helene Impact on Georgia Pecans
We’ve had a little over a week to sort through the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene upon our pecan industry. Its a difficult thing to see in person and to put into words. We have not seen a storm with this level of destruction in the past. The damage begins in Brooks and Lowndes counties […]