When I first heard of the PECAN PAC (Political Action Committee) I must say I wondered to myself, why do we even need this, and more importantly why should I give my hard earned money to this committee; especially when I just lost a significant portion of my pecan crop, and pecan prices are at 10 year lows. And as it turns out, the above reasons are the exact reasons I’ll not only be giving this year, but they are the reasons I’ll be increasing my donations to the Pecan PAC.

With the devastation of Hurricane Michael to Georgia’s Pecan and Timber industries came also photo and hand shaking opportunities from political leaders in Georgia and the Department of Agriculture. We even had the President and Vice President of the United States visit pecan orchards promising the world. However, as we all know, the next big news event will always shadow over the previous and so it was with the devastating fires in California, the once “big” news story of hurricane Michael became a distant thought. While the camera crews and politicians moved on, pecan growers are left handling their own problems. But now we have a voice in Washington DC. while we clean up orchards and wonder if the trade war will end. The PECAN PAC is busy addressing these very issues, making sure that congress allocates monies for disaster relief for pecan farmers that works for pecan farmers. They are also working to make sure pecans are not forgotten in the ongoing trade war. While the American Pecan Council has dedicated money for marketing pecans they are restricted by law from lobbying congress for anything. That is where donations to the PECAN PAC comes in, the PAC is set up specifically for lobbying congress to make sure pecans have a seat at the table during negotiations, and I have now seen first hand how important that is to my bottom line.