Hurricane Sally Has Lasting Impacts on Pecan Crop

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

Damages from Hurricane Sally will have lasting impact on the South Alabama pecan crop. The storm not only decimated the crop in some areas, but also toppled trees, says Bryan Wilkins, a research associate with the department of horticulture at Auburn University.

Wilkins… “I know of one guy: 25 acres, I think he's got two trees left standing. I've got another grower, he farms around 100 - 120 acres. He's lost half of it. We know he lost 600 trees, all told. One 20 acre orchard, the front five acres, you know, we went over and looked at it. You know, it didn't look too bad. You know, trees down. We got to the back 15 and I counted six trees left standing. And then, you know, I got another grower up toward Loxley. They had,I forgot how many acres of almost a hundred year old Stuarts, and over 120 of them went on the ground.”

Wilkins says this all happened during what was supposed to be a great year for pecans.

Wilkins… “For us, this was the best crop of pecans that we had had in years. And some guys say it was the best one they'd seen in 20 years or better. We figured here in Mobile and Baldwin counties, we had probably three and a half million pounds of pecans or a little better.”