Native pecan yield 2017

    Every year I learn something new about native pecans. This past summer (2017), the branches of our native trees were hanging low with, what I thought, was a heavy nut crop. However, this past year our native trees fooled me. The limbs were weighted down with a huge leaf crop that hid a below average nut crop.
    It was only when we began shaking trees, that we discovered the true nature of the 2017 native crop.

     For 37 years we have be recording the yields from 6, one-half-acre plots of native pecans. The 2017 yields are presented in the table above (numbers listed in Lbs.). The half-acre plots are labeled A thru F.  We always harvest each plot twice; the first time in mid November and then again in late December. The weight of nuts collected at each harvest time is listed above.
    The 37 yield average yield/acre for these plots is 1150 lbs. The 2017 crop averaged 798 lbs./acre or 30% below average. What was interesting about the 2017 harvest was that we harvested almost one third of the crop (32%) during the second harvest. Prior to 2017, second harvest yielded 15% to 20% of the total crop. Why the difference in 2017?
    I blame the heavy leaf crop. During the first harvest, our pecan harvester had a tough time digesting all those leaves. A lot of nuts ended up riding on a stream of leaves and getting blown out of the back of the machine. When we went back for the second harvest, the leaves had been chopped up and partially broken down by our first harvest operation. During the second pass over the field, the harvester could easily process the ground up leaves and orchard floor was swept clean of nuts.  
   A below-average nut crop and an above-average leaf crop in 2017 is a sure sign that the potential for the 2018 native crop will be huge.