News

Bill Ree has updated the pesticides database with the lastest products labeled for pecan. Click here to search.

The Pecan Nut Casebearer season is nearly with us. Please visit the cooperator pages to take part in the data collection and casebearer forecasting program here. Consult your local extension agent for more details.

The brown marmorated stinkbug is moving west. A national program at Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station is involved in identifying and reporting new discoveries of this invasive pest. Reports may be made directly to the website link, although we recommend working with your local experts first to confirm the pest is present. Bill Ree is a local expert who can be contacted regarding this pest on pecan in Texas.

• Protect your orchard from offsite pesticide drift by using the Texas Crop Registry. Pesticides are an important tool for agriculture, but pesticides applied to one crop have the potential to drift and cause damage to surrounding crops. For example, a pecan orchard located next to a field crop may be at risk from broad-spectrum herbicides used for early season weed control. In recent years the risk from pesticide drift has increased with the widespread use of herbicide tolerant crops.
  The Texas Crop Registry is designed to protect growers and pesticide applicators in Texas by maintaining maps of crop locations at risk to pesticide drift. Pesticide applicators can use these maps to assess whether any precautions should be taken to reduce drift. The registry is free and easy to use: simply register with the site then enter the location of your pecan orchard(s) or any other at risk crops.
• The time to put out pecan nut casebearer pheromone traps is rapidly approaching, or even here for our most southerly producers in the pecan belt. The list of suppliers is provided for your use and we also would like you to join our PNC Cooperator Program to aid the industry in risk assessement for this important pest.

• El Paso County Agrilife Extension Center IPM Newsletter is now available in the library.
• The Pecan Scab Risk Assessment Map tool will not be operational in 2014 due to a lack of funds to maintain the integrity of the real-time data input/output processing required to continue to provide this service. Previous histories for 2011-2013 provide a ”proof of concept” and can be made available for reference purposes. The tool can be reinstated if/when resources can be found to update and maintain it.

• The Pecan, A History of America’s Native Nut by acclaimed writer and historian James McWilliams explores the history of our most important commercial nut from its beginnings as a food source for native Americans to its present status as a valued global commodity. University of Texas Press, October 2013.
• Register online now for the 2014 Texas Pecan Short Course.
  Dates: 8:00 am on Monday, January 27, 2014 through noon Friday, January 31
  Location: Room 601, Rudder Tower, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

• Walnut caterpillar June 2013 pest alert
• The Pecan Scab Risk Assessment tool has been restored.

The Pecan Scab Risk Assessment tool is currently dysfunctional. Our initial diagnosis indicates this is a data flow problem involving NOAA data, the pecan scab risk analysis model we have developed and how the massive databases being created are updated, archived and retrieved. The solution requires purchasing Information Technology expertise and an upgrade of hardware and software to bring the tool back online.
The grant funding this program ended a year ago and new funds and funding streams are being sought to maintain the website. We intend to get this management aid back online ASAP and regret this break in service. We note that even though this website was designed to operate with minimal maintenance needs, some resources will always need to be provided by someone to maintain this website.

• The March 2013 issue of Bill Ree’s Texas Pecan Pest Newsletter is online.
• The Pecan Nut Casebearer (PNC) Data Collection program used to generate the public PNC Risk Map
  will operate again in 2013. New cooperators can join by visiting the PNC Cooperator Programs section
  of the website, registering with the system (if they haven’t already done so), and clicking on the “Become a Cooperator” link on the menu bar. Educational materials for PNC are also available on the website.

Dr. George McEachern, Professor of Horticulture at TAMU, has prepared a calendar to aid pecan producers in conducting pecan management activities throughout the year.

The Texas State Pecan Show was held July 15, 2012, in conjunction with the Texas Pecan Growers Association annual conference in San Marcos, Texas. This show represents the 61st consecutive year that a competition recognizing the top quality pecans in the state has been held. The Texas Pecan Show is the largest and longest running pecan show in the U.S. Entries judged by a panel of five pecan scientists represented pecans grown in the previous season (2011), and were lower in number (199) due to the drought conditions experienced throughout Texas last year.

• The Grand Champion Commercial Pecan was grown by Pat Baggett, Cinco B Farms, Washington County, Pawnee variety, 38 per pound, 61.07% kernel
• The Grand Champion Classic or New Pecan Variety was grown by Ed & Dorothy Fisher, Midland County, Waco Variety, 43 per pound, 57% kernel
• The Grand Champion Native Pecan was grown by K&K Pecans, Menard County, 72 per pound, 57% kernel

See the complete results here. Search on keywords ”pecan judging” (without the quotation marks).

The Pecan ipmPIPE Library now provides links to two classic bulletins by Dr. S. W. Bilsing; Dr. Bilsing was a professor of entomology at TAMU who conducted and published the first meticulous study of the pecan nut casebearer, Acrobasis nuxvorella Nuenzig. This work has been instrumental in crafting the management programs for this key pecan pest. Now you can read this work in the original.

• Pecan scab season has started. The Pecan Scab Risk Assessment Tool is now live and ready to help you make pecan scab management decisions.
• The latest issue of Texas Pecan Pest Management Newsletter is hot off the press and waiting for you in the Library. Search by author “Ree, W” (without the quotation marks).

The Pecan Nut Casebearer Data Collection Program has moved online! Pecan stakeholders who have agreed or wish to participate can register or login here (or by choosing Cooperator Programs > PNC Data Collection from the left menu bar). This innovative program will provide real time PNC data entry from the field to drive a PNC Risk Assessment Model that will appear in a belt-wide map to aid producers in making PNC management decisions in the 2012 season.

Aphid Management Survey is ready. We would appreciate your feedback.

New video on pecan kernel development and how it relates to timing your pest management decisions. Watch it here.

• Pecan Nut Casebearer video is up on our YouTube Channel.
• A new Pecan Weevil Pest Alert is available.

• Pecan Scab Risk Assessment Aid to Disease Management–Browser Alert
  Some pecan stakeholders using Internet Explorer report difficulty loading this screen. If you are using Windows 7, please upgrade to Internet Explorer 9. No incidents reported with other browsers.
• Annual meetings of producer organizations provide an excellent opportunity for growers, scientists and others interested in the nut industry to share ideas and experiences. These and other producer organizations helped found and continue to support the Pecan ipmPIPE program.
  • Texas Pecan Growers Association meeting – July 10, Frisco, Texas
  • Northern Nut Growers Association meeting – July 17, Logan, Utah
• July is Leaf Nutrition Month
  It’s that time of year again. July is the time to collect and submit leaf samples for analysis to determine the amount of essential minerals your pecan trees are absorbing from the soil or from foliar treatments. Nitrogen, potassium, zinc and other nutrient deficiencies can be identified from leaf samples. We have developed an information packet with instructions and locations for submitting leaf samples.View/Download Instructions for Pecan Leaf Sample Collection for Nutritional Analysis

• Pecan Scab Risk Assessment Aid to Disease Management
  The new Pecan Scab Risk Assessment tool is now available. The tool provides a beltwide risk overview for the past 7 days, with links and instructions for customizing the assessment for your location. Please note that extensive help functions and background materials are provided. These will help you navigate through various features and get maximum value from this program deliverable. Reading them will reward you in learning how to use the system best for your purposes. Damon Smith, Pecan Plant Pathologist at Oklahoma State University, provided the leadership to make this tool available to the pecan industry. Please let us know what you think.
• Try the new Herbicide Search Engine
  Weeds can present problems in pecan orchards because they compete with pecan trees for water, light, and nutrients. Therefore, weed control should be an important part of the overall pecan orchard management plan.To better serve our stakeholders, the Pecan ipmPIPE team has developed an herbicides search engine. The database behind the search engine was developed by Dr. Jamshid Ashigh, Extension Weed Specialist and Herbicide Specialist at New Mexico State University. The content of the database is based on Dr. Ashigh’s publication, Integrated Weed Management in Pecan Orchards. View/download the publication in the Library. Search on author name “Ashigh” (without the quotation marks).

Pecan ipmPIPE Program Team Receives Superior Service Award

PNC looks early this year in southern Texas
Pecan IPM pays off by conserving yields and sustaining annual production to help producers meet demands from a growing export market. The 2011 pecan nut casebearer (PNC) moth flight has gotten underway early in 2011 (see PNC Risk Map under Maps). Management of this pest is key to start the season and other information on this site is useful in ensuring the best crop possible is obtained. For information on the growing export market see the April 18 article in The Wall Street Journal.

Learn how we’re capturing real-time data on the timing of pecan growth in spring by visiting our NEW feature, Budbreak.

• Laboratory Evaluation of Feeding Preferences of Formosan Subterranean Termites, Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), on Cultivars of Pecan, Carya illinoinensis, in Texas by Chris R. Swain, Robert T. Puckett & Roger E. Gold is now on the shelf in the Library.
• Integrated Weed Management in Pecan Orchards, a New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension publication authored by Jamshid Ashigh and Esther E. Marquez, is now available in the Library.
• Xyleborini Ambrosia Beetles: An Identification Tool to the World Genera A new Lucid® interactive identification tool by Jiri Hulcr and Sarah M. Smith. Click here for announcement.

The new Field Guide to Insects and Mites of Pecans is available at the Agrilife Bookstore or through TPGA for $15.00 plus tax and shipping. The publication number is B-6055.

• Happy Holidays!
• Extension Specialist Bill Ree’s pecan IPM summer internship student featured on TAMU Entomology website.

• Search the new Fungicide Database for products labeled for use on pecan.
• Read Dr. Tom Isakeit’s paper on fungicide resistance, Pecan Scab: Understanding Fungicide Activity to Prevent Fungicide Resistance, now available in the Library. Read important information about avoiding insecticide resistance.

• Leaf Nutrition Month
  July is the time to collect and submit leaf samples for analysis to determine the amount of essential minerals your pecan trees are absorbing from the soil or from foliar treatments. Nitrogen, potassium, zinc and other nutrient deficiencies can be identified from leaf samples.
• We have developed an information packet with instructions and locations for submitting leaf samples.
  Instructions for Pecan Leaf Sample Collection for Nutritional Analysis

The Pecan IPM Library is now online!
The Pecan IPM Library offers a wide range of research-based information that can help our constituents make informed decisions about integrated pest management in their pecan operations. Formats include Extension publications, journal articles, newsletters, slide and video presentations and proceedings articles.

• Pecan IPM Pesticide Database is available.
• Search the National Agriculture Library’s Thesaurus and Glossary from our site. Go to the top navigation bar (the blue strip above, under the picture) and click on “Search the NAL Thesaurus and Glossary.” The Thesaurus and Glossary are online vocabulary tools of agricultural terms in English and Spanish.