# Was this past fall an "off" year for pecans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563 "2019-02-14T23:19:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/1 "2019-02-14T23:19:05Z")
I know pecan trees cycle between good & bad years (from a squirrel’s point of view) and was wondering, was last autumn/winter of 2018-19 one of the low-yielding years? There’s a few pecans nearby, and a neighbor has 2 of those named varieties that produce HUGE nuts. I noticed this winter there were plenty of acorns under the oaks, but almost no pecans strewn about. (Do different species alternate their years somehow?) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/2 "2019-02-15T02:45:46Z")
It varies tree to tree for us in NM. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/3 "2019-02-15T02:54:56Z")
Poking around online it\* looks\* like even years are “on” years, in aggregate. But I don’t have a cite I’m happy enough with yet to share it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/4 "2019-02-15T03:20:45Z")
My trees produced as normal. We had a drought-y summer and I was worried. I got plenty of nuts. Left a few for the wildlife. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/5 "2019-02-15T03:48:56Z")
My trees had a really off year. The one in the front yard sometimes produces on the off year, and it had a few, but hurricane Michael took out the few unripe ones it had on it. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/6 "2019-02-15T04:44:34Z")
Here in south Georgia, the growing season was nearly perfect. And the nuts were almost ripe when Hurricane Michael blew them out of the trees in early October. Similar event on almost exactly the same date in 2016 - Hurricane Matthew. In both cases, a lot of farmers lost the year’s crop and a significant portion of their orchards. I don’t know about other growing areas, but the past 2 even numbered years have been disasters around here. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/7 "2019-02-15T04:47:04Z")
here in my patch of the ca desert …a lot of our stuff had an off year like our squashes (im not cryin over that one personally) no watermelons /(which did disappoint I loves me some melon the ) exception was pumpkins and we only had 3 or 4 of those and they were planted in a different spot ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/8 "2019-02-15T05:06:56Z")
Useless piece of trivia in my brain . . . till now, the good years are called ‘[mast years](https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&source=hp&ei=x0dmXOqZJIf_5gLJyYqIDQ&q=mast+year&btnK=Google+Search)’. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/9 "2019-02-15T06:13:12Z")
Not useless! Led me to some other good info. We should bring the phrase back into general usage. “My stock portfolio really had a mast year.” “How’s the new job?” “Cruddy so far, looking forward to finally hitting that mast year eventually.” ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/10 "2019-02-15T11:55:05Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Poking around online it\* looks\* like even years are “on” years, in aggregate. But I don’t have a cite I’m happy enough with yet to share it. [https://www.nationalpecan.com/update-to-the-trade/](https://www.nationalpecan.com/update-to-the-trade/) [https://georgiapecancorp.com/news-market-updates/](https://georgiapecancorp.com/news-market-updates/) There should be some actual USDA data out there but I haven’t found them yet. Note that any particular tree may be planted counter to that, and entire regions may be the opposite of the national trend. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-past-fall-an-off-year-for-pecans/829563/11 "2019-02-15T15:12:52Z")
Here in Texas, it was a record crop. > **[Expert says Texas pecan crop could top 70 million pounds](https://www.reporternews.com/story/news/2018/07/06/texas-pecan-crop-could-top-70-million-pounds/763156002/)** > > A Texas A&M expert says this year's Texas pecan crop could reach 70 million pounds.