What would the holidays be without roasted pecans and pecan pies? It is my job to ensure you never have to worry about having pecans for your holidays.
Pecans have always been a part of the Hudson family of Irwin County. My great-grandfather dug up pecans trees from a local creek bottom and replanted them in one of the first pecan orchards in Georgia. Pecans at that time were used as food for the family, feed for livestock and a small income source. My father, Newt Hudson, raised and educated three children on 20 acres of pecans. The Hudson family tree is literally a pecan tree, for it has fed and sustained our family for five generations.
Pecans are grown and marketed across the southern United States, from the Carolinas to California. Pecans are also produced in Mexico, South Africa, Australia and Israel.
The United States annually produces approximately 300 million pounds of pecans — about half the world’s production — and Georgia accounts for roughly one-third of that amount. The most concentrated production of pecans in the world is within a 60-mile radius of Albany. The farm gate value of pecans in Georgia will annually exceed $300 million and contribute more than $1 billion to the economies of rural Georgia.
In 1998, our family produced a very large crop of pecans, and the prices paid were low due to excess national supply. After having worked for an entire year and not making enough money to cover my expenses, I packed my bags and traveled to China to market my pecans. I found one dubious customer willing to trade a container of shelled Chinese walnuts for a container of in-shell pecans.
Since that first trip, my company and many others have sent millions of pounds of pecans to China and other Asian countries.
In 2012, China imported more than 100 million pounds of pecans — equal to all of the pecans produced in Georgia most years. As a result of this increased demand for Georgia’s pecans, we have seen higher prices. Pecans the Hudson Pecan Co. sold in 1998 for 50 cents per pound have increased to more than $3 per pound this year. Pecan farmers are now able to take these profits and grow the industry.
It has also allowed us to expand our company, hire more local employees and even bring our children back to the farm. Today, my son Scott manages the family farm.
The price you pay this holiday season for your pecans, pecan pies, cookies and cakes may be higher than past years. This increase in price will be partially dueto the tremendous Chinese appetite for pecans.
Randy Hudson is a pecan farmer in Ocilla.
