Pecan harvest is underway in the Northern hemisphere and the early market pecan prices have started off strong. Pawnee pecans started off with offers as high as $2.73 for the commercial and gift pack market. Oversize and Extra Large Pawnee with high meat yields and little to no damage have brought strong farmgate prices. 

 

Commercial shellers serving the ingredients and confectionery markets have now entered the market and offers have dropped from the earliest offerings. The ingredients and confectionery markets work more on volume and many times are not as interested in the very large pretty pecan halves. 

 

While the large pretty halves are used extensively, the ingredients market where pecans are many times covered and or mixed in with other ingredients makes up a large portion of the market and can serve to lower offerings. 

 

The recent dip in pricing on the farm is not unusual this time of year as the earliest varieties typically bring a higher price on the commercial market. This past week saw prices drop as shellers with dwindling inventories are hoping to scoop up some deals. 

 

Growers are currently opting to hold their pecans and possibly send them to cold storage to wait for price offerings to recover. Desirable pecans, typically one of the better offerings on the commercial market have dropped well below $2.00 but will likely not stay there for long. 

 

Growers in the southeastern region have been more proactive in the past few years about waiting to sell as opposed to dumping huge amounts of quantity onto the spot market, where prices tend to fall unless major shortages are occurring. 

 

While inventories are shrinking with increasing demand, the spot market will still allow for some deals to be had. Growers in the southeast are becoming less dependent on the spot market and are willing to hold for longer periods to negotiate better prices. This trend will continue as the pecan market grows.