Right now we own a kennel thats just starting out.and farm our 80,more like 50 with the two houses and barns. I put in soybeans and wheat double cropped. Right now the crops dont even make the mortgage. I want to get it to support itself and maybe make something extra. I have been thinking about pecan groves.Does anyone know anything about pecans ,the new grafted ones. Like years to maturity and $ per acre per year. Right now I an just trying to figger out which way to go. Thank you.
Depending on the amount of time that you have, and the area, truck gardening can be profitable. We took in over $3500 on less than an acre this year. It is labor intensive but figured that we could do another 4 acres with a little more work.
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pecans ,the new grafted ones
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New? How new? The practice of grafting pecan trees has been around a lot longer than I have. My grandparents bought a place in 1943 that had an already huge pecan tree that produced 3 entirely different varieties of pecans on different limbs. It would have to have been grafted many years before that. And my dad showed me an orchard where he said he spent all of one summer grafting those trees before I was born in 1940. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
As far as how long to maturity? I don't really know, but know it's a long term project. I saw one guy in the business quoted as saying that "you take care of pecan trees for 10 years, then they'll take care of you the rest of your life."
I was referring to the small pecan trees that look about the size fo a dogwood. Down in Alabama we had big huge pecan trees,like 2 feet thick at the base. These trees here are no more than3 inches on the trunk. New to me trees.
I've got a friend with a 60 acre u-cut Christmas tree farm. He's consistently earned 12-15k for the past 10 years. Now he's modified it to cater strictly to companies wanting to treat their employees/families to a Christmas party and give them trees to take home. BBQ and cider, does hayrides, and has a pavillion with a fireplace. Only has to to be open Friday afternoons, Saturdays, and Sundays, doesn't get anymore hot checks, and will more than triple his income this year. My teen son is working for him weekends and a couple of evenings next week because their making 700 live wreathes for next weekend out of the culled trees that didn't sell and will make as much on the wreathes as he would have if he had sold the trees whole and alot more than he would've if he had to destroy them after the season. He'll make money next weekend where normally his business would have been all but over this weekend. Just an idea, I've always thought it would be a fun venture if I didn't have to compete with him.
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small pecan trees that look about the size fo a dogwood
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OK, I understand, but don't really have an answer. I know where there are some huge commercial orchards like that, and I know they keep them pruned to keep the trees relatively small. The owner of one orchard (8,000 trees) told me he sprays 5 times a year. And I know where there's a small orchard like that that was just started 6-8 years ago, but haven't been there in over a year, so don't know whether he's getting any production from it yet or not.
Have you thought about apples? I got some jonagolds from an orchard near you a couple of years ago that were the best apples I ever tasted. The guy only had a few acres in orchard, but he got a bumper crop that year at least. He said he had to fence to keep the deer out, but that would be true for pecans too. Apples do real well in central Missouri. Pecans might, but you should take a ride west to the pecan growing section of Missouri before you go into that. The groves are mostly the small native pecans, which taste great, but are tiny compared to the southern pecans. I talked to some of the growers there, and they are trying to put in some grafted trees to get bigger nuts, but I don't know if any of them very far along with that process. I plan to plant some pecan trees, but just for my own use, so if I don't get a good crop it will just cost me some deserts!
I didn't like all the diseases and bugs apples get. But my wife is interested in apples.She's been reading up on apple growing.
This whole change the crop thing wont happen at least for another year seeing I have wheat out right now and will probably throw in the beans afterwards. I
Have you thought of a diversity of produce that matures at different times. It may ease the harvesting and also provide some protection in case one crop is lost.
Can't give any ideas of what type of produce as the climate is so much different than what I am familiar with and most of my thoughts are from 40 or so years ago.
It is sometimes very anquishing to find one has slipped from the cutting edge to the back no edge side of the knife.
Bees are another question I have. I was told that if I grow apple trees I should raise some bees too.Even if I don't want to harvest honey they are there to pollenate the trees.
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