Pecan Industry

Pecans

Dr. Richard Heerema holds out pecans in his hands

Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is a large deciduous native North American tree grown in 27 US states by about 25,000 pecan farmers for its delicious and highly nutritious nutmeats; thus, it has great economic impact in rural communities across much of the U.S. It is considered a permanent crop, as trees bear for 300+ years. Pecan is recently domesticated, as commercial orchards were first planted in the late 1800s. It is successfully farmed in areas as diverse as the deserts of the southwestern US, the humid southeastern US, California Central Valleys, the Southern Plains, and is substantially planted worldwide (Grauke et al., 2011).