NM pecan crop ranks No. 2 in size

New Mexico ranked No. 2 nationally in the amount of pecans produced last year and the overall value of the crop, according to a recent federal report. Also, the average price for the crop, while high, didn't reach the record-setting price level of two years ago, according to the report issued last month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. New Mexico growers reported producing about 61 million pounds of nuts in 2011, according to the document. That's a dip of about 5 million pounds from the prior year. Georgia, typically the largest pecan producer, churned out 102 million pounds in the same year. Texas, which sometimes produces more pecans than New Mexico, yielded just 32 million pounds in a year that was known for its severe drought. Notable about New Mexico's crop in recent history is that there hasn't been a large swing in size from year to year, said Richard Heerema, pecan extension specialist at New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service. That's different from a trend that characterized most of the 1990s and 2000s, when trees tended to produce a heavy crop one year and a light crop the next...more