Pecan Growers Must Receive Help Before the End of 2024
December 10, 2024 – Washington, D.C. – Representatives from the National Pecan Federation (NPF) traveled to Washington, D.C. last week for meetings across Capitol Hill, advocating for financial assistance needed before the end of this year. During their trip, NPF representatives met with Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, as well as senior agricultural staff, to engage in discussions on natural disaster assistance and general agricultural economic assistance.
In November 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate passed a 1-year extension of Farm Bill programs at the same levels authorized in the 2018 Farm Bill. This extension expired on September 30, 2024, and some federal programs became unavailable. Crop insurance, primary nutrition, disaster, and other programs have been enacted as permanent law and access to federal assistance will remain available.
Congress returned to session in November, and it is anticipated there is an opportunity to include both disaster assistance and agricultural economic assistance in the final appropriations legislation before Congress leaves on December 18. Many commodity organizations are strongly encouraging a new Farm Bill, rather than another extension, although Congress is running out of time before the new year.
NPF attendees included representatives from Georgia and Texas, where extreme disasters have occurred and affected pecan growers in many states. In Georgia, Hurricane Helene damage totaled 48,180 acres, a loss of 397,485 trees, and 36,135,000 pounds lost from the 2024 crop, which is a larger amount of total pecan losses than from Hurricane Michael. Pecan growers in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona faced extreme heat and exceptional or extreme drought in 2023 and 2024 with increase in average temperatures up to 15 degrees higher, reporting a crop loss of 40% or higher for those crop years. Additionally, Spring 2023 freeze damage compounded the issues from drought-stressed trees, resulting in up to a 50-70% crop loss for the year in several Western states.
NPF members played a vital role in advocating for legislative initiatives during their meetings on Capitol Hill, addressing the need for Congress to pass natural disaster assistance and economic assistance before 2025 due to the current extreme economic conditions and low probability, in many cases, of accessing loan services for the next crop year. More specifically, many pecan growers are unable to reestablish their groves due to the extreme natural disaster damage experienced over the last two years.
Mary Bruorton, executive director of the Georgia Pecan Growers Association participated in the trip last week. “These D.C. fly-in visits are vital to our industry, providing an opportunity for direct, one-on-one conversations with members of Congress from pecan-producing states,” she said, “This particular fly-in was especially significant given the challenges the pecan industry faced in 2024, from hurricanes in the East to droughts and freezes in the West. Following our meetings, I am optimistic that Congress will act promptly to implement a Disaster Assistance Program and an Economic Assistance Program for pecans before the Lame Duck Session concludes on December 20.”
Blair Krebs, executive director of the Texas Pecan Growers Association joined in representing growers from the Western states. “As a unified group, we advocated for growers who faced significant losses from disasters, such as hurricanes, drought, and freezes,” she said, “We also spoke to legislators to highlight the dire situation producers are facing due to high input costs and current market conditions. While hard topics to face, we left feeling optimistic that producers will gain the assistance they need to keep producing pecans, and we want to thank the National Pecan Federation team for being the leaders in our industry’s advocacy work.”
Larry Don Womack, chairman of the National Pecan Federation, also participated in the efforts of the fly-in group. “The National Pecan Federation has been on Capitol Hill advocating for disaster assistance and agricultural economic assistance to members of Congress and congressional staff,” he said. “The pecan industry has been significantly impacted by hurricanes, drought, and freeze, and we must assist growers who are facing economic crisis.”
