Finally, something goes right in 2020: A bumper crop of NC pecans for Thanksgiving
North Carolina farmers credit plentiful rain and sunshine for a bumper crop of pecans in 2020, state agriculture officials said this week.
Families will find more than enough for their Thanksgiving pies, whether at their local store, farmer’s market or pecan farm, officials said.
“Consumers should have no trouble finding North Carolina pecans this season,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in announcing what amounts to a strong, healthy crop after several years of weather-related disruptions.
No major storms messed with the Eastern North Carolina crop during hurricane season, yet another plus, officials said.
“My trees have been heavy,” pecan farmer Tim Haithcock is quoted as saying in the state announcement.
Haithcock has grown pecans for about 25 years on his 107-acre Indian Springs Pecans farm in Goldsboro.
He hand-harvested early-variety pecans at the end of September and will begin full-scale harvesting in the weeks ahead.
“They are looking very, very good with plenty of pecans on every variety,” he said.
North Carolina ranks among the top 10 pecan-producing states in the U.S., with local farmers growing 4 million to 5 million pounds of in-shell pecans each year, according to agriculture officials.
The state’s prime pecan season runs from early November through year’s end. Pecan trees are all over North Carolina, with most commercial orchards in the eastern and southeastern parts of the state.
Find where to buy locally grown ones at www.buyncpecans.com.
This story was originally published October 24, 2020 at 3:20 PM.