Texas Pecan Shortcourse Now Includes
USDA Pecan Station and Bush Presidential Library Tours

By Dr. George Ray McEachern, Professor and Extension Horticulturist
November 23, 1999

The 2000 Texas Pecan Orchard Management Shortcourse will be conducted in the Rudder Conference Tower on the campus of Texas A&M University at College Station, Texas the week of January 24 through 28, 2000.

The registration fee is $150 for growers, $50 for spouses, $50 for county agents and parking requires $30. Each participant will receive the 1997 Texas Pecan Handbook as the text for the course. Each participant will also build a Pecan Variety Board which has 48 leading pecan varieties. Rooms are available at the TAMU Student Center at phone 409 845 8909. There are many hotels and motels off campus. American flies to College Station via Dallas and Continental via Houston. Registration begins at 8:00 am on the second floor of the Rudder Conference Tower with parking next door. Class begins at 9:00 a.m.

To preregister, contact Ms. Jacque Hand at Conferences and Shortcourses, Rudder Conference Tower, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843 and phone 409 845 8904 or FAX 409 845 2519.

This Shortcourse was started by Benton Storey in the mid 1960’s as a teaching aid for county Extension agents. The class was typically less than 15 agents. In the 1970’s growers began to attend and the class size started to grow. A handbook was started in 1973 and it was updated each year. By the 1980’s the class was about 50 each year, which it continues to have to this date. Over the years many instructors have taught at the Shortcourse and most of them continue today.

All aspects of orchard management are covered and include: soil and site selection, irrigation, planting and establishment, varieties, rootstocks, insect and disease management, fertilization, week control processing, costs and returns, taxes and marketing. Management systems will be presented for west, central, east and native pecans. Some topics are one hour while others are all day. Questions and answers are taken during and after every lecture.

This is a comprehensive Shortcourse and pecan growers world wide are welcome. In addition to Texas, growers from Georgia, Arizona, Mexico, Australia, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, and other places have participated.

In addition to class room lectures, on Tuesday afternoon, each student will make a pecan variety board. Also on Tuesday, Cindy /Wise of the Texas Pecan Growers Association will make a presentation of the services her organization has available to growers and she will have pecan literature for growers to purchase. On Wednesday afternoon, the class will visit the new George Bush Presidential Library on campus. On Thursday afternoon, the class will bus to the USDA Pecan Station to learn and see all about the USDA cultivars, rootstocks and germ plasm repository. This will be followed by a Texas steak dinner. On Friday at noon the course is completed and diplomas are given to each student.

Tentative Schedule

Monday, January 24, 2000

8:00 a.m. Registration, Second Floor, Rudder Conference Tower
9:00 a.m. Welcome, Sam Cotner
9:15 a.m. - Keys to Pecan Profitability, George Ray McEachern
9:45 a.m. - World Wide Pecan Distribution, J. Benton Story
10:45 a.m. - History of Pecan Production, Bluefford G. Hancock
1:30 p.m. - Site Evaluation, L. J. Grauke
2:15 p.m. - Pecan Tree Growth and Development, Mary Rumpho
2:45 p.m. - Pecan Tree Root Growth and Absorption, Malcolm Drew
3:15 p.m. - Orchard Design, Spacing, Thinning and Expansion, George Ray McEachern

Tuesday, January 25, 2000

8:00 a.m. - Planting and Establishing Pecan Orchards, George Ray McEachern
9.30 a.m. - Pecan Irrigation Management, Larry Stein
10:30 a.m. - Native Grove Management, Larry Stein
1:00 p.m. - Regional Pecan Variety Recommendations, George Ray McEachern
2:00 p.m. - Pecan Variety Board Workshop, George Ray McEachern
4:00 p.m. - Texas Pecan Growers Association, Cindy Wise

Wednesday, January 26, 2000

8:00 a.m. - Pecan Fertilization, Zincs Sprays, and Nutrition Analysis, J. Benton Storey
9:00 a.m. - Cattle Production in Native Pecan Groves, Billy Kniffen
9:30 a.m. - Native Pecan Timber Contracts, Judd Michael
10:00 a.m. - Saw Mills for Native Pecan Timber, Ken Rogers
11:00 a.m. - Pecan Nursery Production, J. W. Worthington
1:00 p.m. - East Texas Pecan Management, Glenn Huddleston
2:00 p.m. - Central Texas Pecan Management, George Ray McEachern
3:00 p.m. - West Texas Pecan Management, John Begnaud
4:00 p.m. - BUSH presidential Library Tour

Thursday, January 27, 2000

8:00 a.m. - Pecan Weed Control, George Ray McEachern
9:00 a.m. - Pecan Disease Control, Clip Lee
10:00 a.m. - Pecan Integrated Pest Management, Marvin Harris
1:00 p.m. - Pecan Insect Strategies for 2000, Bill Ree
2:30 p.m. - USDA Pecan Station Tour
6:00 p.m. - Steak Dinner

Friday, January 28, 2000

8:00 a.m. - Tax Consideration for Pecan Growers, Wayne Hayenga
9:00 a.m. - Pecan Price Trends, Carl Shafer
10:00 a.m. - Pecan Economics, Joe Pena
11:00 a.m. - Graduation, Sam Cotner

Registration Fee: $150.00 at (409-845-8904)