I think you definitely need the bees to pollinate the crops. Having your own bee hives may be best, although if you have neighbors who have bees, they'll take care of it for you.
I think you definitely need the bees to pollinate the crops. Having your own bee hives may be best, although if you have neighbors who have bees, they'll take care of it for you.
Have you considered growing ornamentals for nurserys, or landscapers? Small shrubs and trees might be something to check on.
As regards pecan trees: Check with yoir extension agent regarding info on all the various sprayings etc that are done with pecan trees. It has been a while since I read about it but there was a heck of a lot more spraying, pruning, etc than I was aware of.
My response was to go all natural. I have a lot of native pecan trees. Some produce small pecans (OK they all produce small pecans) but some are way larger than the smallest. Most have terrific flavor. Economically, we just harvest for our own use and gifts. I do miminal care for them. I try to cut out ice storm damage within 2-5 years and pick up some of the fallen limbs.
I have them commercially cracked and blown (air currents used to separate shells from nut meats). I have found that when the crop is large enough to be of commercial interest,
E V E R Y B O D Y has tons of pecans and the prices are way low. The work required to make much of a change to this wan't worth it to me.
Maybe you will do better. I have friends who produce many tons in a good year and the income competes wth their cattle. Some years it is good that they have the cattle. They have pasture for the cattle to use during pecan harvest, otherwise the cattle and pecans share the fields. They have large trees and use the services of hired mechanical shakers to drop the cropp to the ground.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
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