Reflections on current industry conditions

Anne Warden, CEO of APC and APPB

I spent several days this week visiting growers in Georgia who were hit hard by the hurricane. As each one talked me through what the fallen trees meant for this harvest and whether they would plant again, they all brought up their concerns about overall grower profitability. Like a hurricane, the current pecan market can have an impact that lasts far beyond this crop year. It can limit growers’ ability to improve production practices – and with it, yields and nut quality – maintain the workers they’ve often trained for years, and induce the next generation of their family to take on the risks of farming. And with that, the entire industry pays the price.  

When I started a year ago, I minced no words when I said the APC and the APPB must exist to support the farmer and should focus on marketing that drives profitability for the entire industry. Whether it’s efforts to shift pecans from a holiday ingredient to a year-round staple, to highlight the value-add of health benefits, or to open new markets for exports, we are committed to investments that deliver a higher return to growers.

But beyond that, these organizations created by and for farmers also have the benefit of bringing everyone to the table – including accumulators, shellers, and importers. This union forces us to look across every pecan-growing region in the world and ask, if we really want to thrive, how do we stop competing against each other and start competing for a larger share of what consumers eat overall? 

Yes, farmers of all kinds are struggling. Almost every other agricultural commodity is feeling the strain of higher input costs, greater global competition, and retailers squeezing margins to retain consumers struggling to make ends meet. But not every commodity is a versatile, nutritious, on-trend food with an industry that just started collectively marketing in the past few years. I deeply believe we have every advantage to grow as other nuts have. But our marketing programs only work when we have the whole chain working. Just like we need to ensure processors have the capacity to innovate products and break into new sales channels, we need farmers to be able – at the very least – to cover the costs of production. If we don’t, we should have a hard conversation about whether we want to be a growing and profitable industry. 

APC and APPB are the vehicles to have this conversation. And our Board and Council members have proven they aren’t afraid to invite disparate opinions and new ideas to the table. The APC and APPB will be convening industry meetings to discuss immediate actions we can take, such as: 

An objective, third-party analysis of what exactly is driving a volatile pecan market

Tools for growers to better weather this economic climate, and;

Efforts growers, accumulators and shellers can take to help all succeed.  

Now is the time to act, and I hope you will reach out to me to get involved.