Texas has around seventy-five thousand acres of commercial pecans, and many of today’s consumers don’t realize what it takes to provide a good supply of high quality pecans.

“Pecan was something we got from our grandparents house, we picked them up on the side of the road or in a park, and so they were available in Texas, and so we’re resistant to paying for a crop that to get volume and quantity and good quality, there’s a farmer somewhere who’s putting a lot of inputs in that. They’re watering, spraying to defeat a lot of pecan pests.”

Monte Nesbitt is a Texas A&M Agrilife Extension nut and fruit specialist and says many commercial pecan orchards require irrigation.

”Anywhere from about thirty inches of rainfall or less, those growers understand the need to have irrigation, and they have to provide it every year. In some regards, if we get into far West Texas, if they don’t provide irrigation, trees can die if they’re only receiving ten or twelve inches of rainfall a year.”

Pecans are good for you.

“High in monounsaturated fats, low in polyunsaturated, so it will lower your LDL cholesterol, and raise your HDL cholesterol, all the things you, if you have some cholesterol challenges, pecan is a good one to add to your diet. Pecan is rich in anti-oxidents. We think it’s one of the highest, if not the highest nut in terms of anti-oxidant capacity per serving.”

Domestic demand for pecans has waffled a bit because of high prices.

“Now we’re seeing pecan being priced in Texas and in other states where it’s native, be priced like what we used to pay for exotic nuts. That’s because the demand globally is very strong.”

If you’re a pecan lover, the answer to high prices just might be planting some trees of your own. I’m Kailey Carey, looking at Brazos valley agriculture, From The Ground Up.