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| Kanza pecans, 2 Nov. 2017 |
I don't think I've ever seem pecan trees hold on to their leaves like this year. During most years, we get a hard freeze in early November that causes pecan leaves to drop off the tree in just a few hours. Not this year.
Temperatures dropped to 27 degrees (F) on a couple of occasions in late October which froze leaf blades but did not kill leaf rachii (photo above). The result of this weather pattern has been that shucks have opened up but the leaves have remained in place (even with frost burned leaflets).
We have harvested several pecan cultivars this week but have found that the semi-green leaves that cover the ground after tree shaking has made harvest by machine a lot less efficient. It seems that the machine is having a hard time digging out pecans from the still leathery leaves. After a hard freeze (less than 26 F), leaves turn crispy dry and are ground up by the harvester.
In time, our harvest problems will pass as colder temperatures are surely on the way. However, a second trip over the orchard with the harvester later this fall will yield far more nuts than in previous years.
