Pecans

Cultivation

Pecans are one of the most recently domesticated of the major crops. Although wild pecans were well known among native and colonial Americans as a delicacy, the commercial growth of pecans in the United States did not begin until the 1880s. As of 2014, the United States produced an annual crop of 119.8 million kilograms (264.2 million pounds), with 75% of the total crop produced in Georgia, New Mexico, and Texas. They can be grown from USDAhardiness zones approximately 5 to 9, and grow best where summers are long, hot and humid. The nut harvest for growers is typically around mid-October.