As this time of year rolls around and we are finishing up with harvest on our farm here in Georgia, I like to reflect on the year and look at how we have grown and what we can do differently in the coming years to improve. 

 

This year has been an interesting one to say the least. As an industry we have mitigated the efforts of less than reputable brokers and shellers to burden the American grower with marketing foriegn pecans with the new APPB, and thereby expanded the pecan marketing budget by an estimated 3 million dollars. 

 

Growers also sent a message to the American Pecan Council by nearly voting the entire FMO out of existence. Which I will be the first to say I don’t agree with. Yes, there has been corrupt and deceitful members sitting on the board, but that is not reason enough to stop marketing efforts for our own products. We remove the bad actors and continue forward marketing our pecans. 

 

The Federal Marketing Order has done more to market pecans in its short existence than any other efforts in the history of the industry, we can not allow a few bad actors to ruin our marketing efforts. The messages being promoted by the APC have dominated the landscape and usage of pecans has continued to increase, and more is coming.

 

As we move into the new year I would like to say thank you for continuing to make our platform the largest platform in the world for pecan news. Your continued support allows us to address the issues that would otherwise continue to be swept under the rug. You keep tuning in and I’ll keep shining a light in the dark corners of our industry, and together we will continue to make this industry better for ALL participants. 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

 

Matthew Bailey