Randy Hudson, CEO of Hudson Pecan Company and former president of the U.S. Pecan Growers Council, shows newly-harvested pecans in one of his orchards in Rochelle, Georgia, the United States, on Oct. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)
by Xinhua writers Liu Yanan, Xu Xingtang
NEW YORK, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. growers, processors and traders of pecans are eager to return to the Chinese market, having faced lower prices and marginal profit, rising input costs, setbacks in overseas markets and a hit of hurricanes in recent years.
Major players in the businesses stressed the need to reduce tariffs between the United States and China to allow the export of voluminous pecans to China, once the leading export destination of U.S. pecans.
PECAN FARMERS STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
Industry insiders said low sales prices at the wholesale level and higher input costs have largely squeezed the profitability margin in the upstream businesses in recent years.
On average, U.S. pecan growers received a sales price of 1.68 U.S. dollars per pound of the crop in 2023, down from 1.8 dollars per pound in 2022 and 2.16 dollars per pound in 2021, according to data issued by the National Agricultural Statistics Service under the U.S. Department of Agriculture in May 2024.
The U.S. pecan industry used to earn higher prices before China imposed additional tariffs in 2018 in response to additional U.S. tariffs targeting imports from China, said Will Easterlin, co-owner of Easterlin Pecan Company, which specializes in trading pecans in Georgia, in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Easterlin said his company shipped around 200 containers of pecans to China in recent years, much less than the 600 to 900 containers it shipped annually prior to the trade war.
Currently, the pecan price is around 2-2.5 U.S. dollars per pound, with little profit margin, said Brad Ellis, co-president of Ellis Bros. Pecans Inc.
He added that the cost of producing pecans has also increased due to the higher costs of fuel, labor and chemicals.
Inflation is "killing us on the production side because the price of fuel and labor is making it where it's not profitable for the farmer to stay in business," Ellis said.
"Growing pecans and selling pecans in the United States right now is a losing proposition," said Randy Hudson, CEO of Hudson Pecan Company and former president of the U.S. Pecan Growers Council.
HURRICANE HELENE TAKES A TOLL
The recent hit from Hurricane Helene devastated pecan farmers in Georgia.
About one-third of pecan growers in Georgia were affected by Hurricane Helene, said Mary Mikelyn Bruorton, executive director of Georgia Pecan Growers Association, which has over 420 members across the state.
Bruorton said preliminary data showed that the hurricane affected about 48,000 acres of pecan orchards and destroyed around 400,000 pecan trees.
Hudson said he lost 30 to 40 percent of his pecan orchards, mostly located around Ocilla in Irwin County.
Though efforts are underway to save as many trees as possible, "It'll take ten years before we start harvesting enough nuts" to pay for the maintenance involved in raising a tree, said Hudson.
"It's devastating, and it will not recover probably in my lifetime from what the hurricane did," said Hudson, who is in his early seventies.
Hudson mentioned receiving assistance from both state and federal governments for the cleanup and replanting of his orchards, in addition to funding from insurance companies.
Still, according to Hudson, insurance compensation only accounted for around 10 percent of production costs.
DESPERATE NEED FOR CHINESE MARKET
Given the scale and readiness of the Chinese market, U.S. pecan business insiders called for a return to the Chinese market to overcome current difficulties.
"China has always been a really good friend to the U.S. pecan producers, and we would really like to open those channels up back to China," Hudson said.
Hudson stated that Chinese tariffs posed significant challenges to U.S. pecan exports, putting American exporters at a clear disadvantage in the global market.
"Personally, I am not fond of tariffs. Because quite honestly, the tariff is passed back to the consumer with higher priced goods," Hudson told Xinhua.
"It was during (former U.S. President Donald) Trump's tenure that the tariffs were put on pecans, and for all practical purposes, stopped the shipment of Georgia and U.S. pecans to China," he said.
"(President Joe) Biden had the opportunity to work with China and remove those tariffs through bargaining processes. And it was not done," he added.
Ellis, who manages 3,000 acres of pecan orchards, said he hoped the tariff dispute between China and the United States would be resolved.
"We would like to see relationships with China go back to a level where we can easily trade U.S. agricultural products to China," Easterlin said, "because they have a big consumer base." Enditem
(Xinhua video reporter Xie E contributed to this story.)
Randy Hudson, CEO of Hudson Pecan Company and former president of the U.S. Pecan Growers Council, kindles a fresh pecan flesh to demonstrate oil concentration in one of his orchards in Rochelle, Georgia, the United States, on Oct. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)
Randy Hudson, CEO of Hudson Pecan Company and former president of the U.S. Pecan Growers Council, takes care of pecans dumped into a truck in one of his orchards in Rochelle, Georgia, the United States, on Oct. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)
A driver rides a sweeper to collect pecans in an orchard in Rochelle, Georgia, the United States, on Oct. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)
A driver rides a shaker to harvest pecans in an orchard in Rochelle, Georgia, the United States, on Oct. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)
Pecan trees blown down by Hurricane Helene are seen in one of Randy Hudson's orchards in Ocilla, Georgia, the United States, on Oct. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)
Customers shop at a pecan store by Ellis Bros. Pecans Inc. in Vienna, Georgia, the United States, on Oct. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)