By Andrew Knittle
This year was supposed to be a good year for pecans in Oklahoma.
Brett Mason, of Mason's Pecans and Peanuts, said the state was due for a big crop this year. He said last year's crop was nonexistent, which usually means a good one will follow.
"That doesn't seem to be happening," Mason said. "Pecan farming is hard and unpredictable and you're at the mercy of Mother Nature.
"It's definitely a hit-or-miss business."
Mason said Oklahoma's pecan crop this year was supposed to yield about 30 million pounds, but that a variety of factors have cut that in half to about 15 million pounds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Oklahoma field office recently estimated the state's production to be about 20 million pounds.
Either way, with less than expected, Mason says he's paying a little more than usual this harvest season as supply lags behind demand.
He blames the weather.
"We had a really wet summer," Mason said. "You get vigorous growth but you also get a lot of insects and you get a lot of scabs."
Scabs are caused by a fungus that grows on pecan trees and they are particularly hard on the nuts, once they get there.
Mason said a late freeze in the spring of 2008 and heavy rains during the recent harvest season also hurt yield and have caused prices to rise a bit this year. He also said the lack of a good freeze so far this season is hampering pecan production in Oklahoma.
"It was so wet during the harvest season that pecans that had fallen on the ground started sprouting," Mason said.
A freeze helps pecans fall out of their husks, he said, but the weather hasn't really cooperated so far this year.
Mason said he is just now starting to see pecans harvested in Oklahoma show up at his store, 4913 SE 44th St. He said Cleveland County isn't a big pecan producer, listing the Tulsa area, McAlester, Ada, Ardmore and farms along the Red River as the state's biggest.
Texas, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana are places Mason buys pecans from these days. He said Oklahoma is the nation's largest producer of native pecans, which are smaller than hybrids such as paper shells.
He says he takes all of these things into consideration when making a buy. Thursday, one man came all the way from Louisiana to sell a load of pecans.
"Taste, the way they look, all that counts when I'm buying pecans," Mason said. "I crack open a few and see what's going on."
Andrew Knittle 366-3540 aknittle@normantranscript.com
