The Georgia Pecan Growers Association held its 54th annual conference and trade show yesterday in Tifton, GA at the UGA conference center. The events kicked off on Tuesday with a golf tournament and welcome reception. Yesterday growers were welcomed by GPGA president Brent Brinkley and executive director Samantha Mcleod in the morning followed by talks from pecan specialist. Later in the day growers receive updates from the US Pecan Growers Council on work being done in the targeted countries along with a special visit from the in country contractor from South Korea. The American Pecan Council’s executive director Alexander Ott gave an update on current work being performed by the staff and discussed industry findings from a research study done. Mr. Ott outlined the plan moving forward for the American Pecan industry and discussed some of the challenges that American pecan growers are currently facing. The “strategic plan” will be released to the industry in the near future. The awards luncheon was well attended with updates on disaster relief packages, and of course grower awards. Vendor attendance was strong showing increased interest from companies serving the tree nut industry.