1999

PECAN VARIETY GRADING

Pecan Growers in Victoria County, Cooperators

Joe D. Janak, C.E.A.

Chapel Schuessler, C.E.A.

SUMMARY:

Sixteen years of Victoria County Pecan Shows have revealed the best varieties followed by the number of Grand and Reserve Champions won by that variety in the Victoria area: Forkert - 13, Cheyenne - 11, Schley - 10, Choctaw - 4, Kiowa - 4, GraCross - 4 and Oconee - 4. In the native division, the Prilop native entered by James Rother or Henry Kallus and another native owned by Fred Stockbauer have each won eight (8) Grand or Reserve Champions.

PROBLEM:

The person buying pecans wants not only the best quality, but the best product for his money. Likewise, a producer of pecans wants the highest return for his pecans. By cracking, shelling and getting the percent kernel, both growers and buyers can be rewarded by buying and selling on a percent kernel as well as on the price per pound.

OBJECTIVES:

To compare the nuts per pound and the percent kernel of pecan varieties entered in the Victoria County Pecan Show. To determine the pecan varieties best adapted to the Victoria area.

MATERIALS/METHODS:

Ten nuts out of a 45 nut sample submitted in each entry in the Victoria County Pecan Show were weighed, cracked, shelled and the kernel weighed to figure both the nuts per pound and the percent kernel. Pecan accumulators, buyers and shellers cannot pay for inedible kernels, therefore, any flaw listed below was removed from the kernel sample after shelling but before weighing and calculating percent edible kernel:

Stink Bug - black spots on the kernel.

Weevil - a short, fat, white grub with a red head.

Vivipary - sprouting, root developing out of kernel.

Mold - gray or black mold on kernel.

Oily - kernel is oil soaked.

Embryo Rot - the eye of the kernel is discolored at the point where the halves attach.

Vivipary Rot - the dorsal ridge of the kernel is shriveled, beginning at the apex end of the kernel.

Fuzz - 50 percent or more of the kernel is covered with fuzz.

Wafer - 50 percent or more of the kernel is a wafer.

Watery - kernel is spongy and discolored, usually off-green.

The pecan entries were then judged on primarily percent kernel, weight and color and awards for both the County and Regional Show are listed.

RESULTS:

An very good County and Regional Pecan Show was held in 1998 considering the poor to fair crop. Victoria was well represented and local producers should be proud of their accomplishments. Table 1 at the end shows a list of the County entries and Regional Show winners.

Table 2 shows a summary of all entries for the past sixteen years and how they advanced to Regional, State and the winners thereof.

Table 2. Victoria County Entry Numbers and placings/year.

YEAR	COUNTY	REGIONAL	STATE	WINNERS AT STATE
1999	87	35	18
1998	114	40	23	6
1997	179	36	19	11
1996	133	48	25	12
1995	215	49	30	10
1994	99	33	25	10
1993	203	56	22	8
1992	134	46	16	7
1991	182	53	21	15
1990	159	53	23	11
1989	124	48	14	9
1988	148	50	14	9
1987	124	53	16	9
1986	156	48	12	7
1985	162	36	17	9
1984	101	38	13	9
1983	191	37	7	3
AVERAGE	154	46	18	9

Table 3 reveals the most common winners by variety. The Forkert variety has won 13 times, Cheyenne 11 times and Schley won 10 times. These are three very good varieties. Natives won by James Rother and Henry Kallus (Prilop) and Fred Stockbauer are also worth considering propagating as they each won eight (8) times.

Table 3. Victoria County Pecan Variety Champions 1983 - 1999.

YEAR	COMMERCIAL		CLASSIC		NATIVE
	GC	RC	GC	RC	GC	RC
1983	Choctaw	Kiowa	Schley	Cheyenne	Hartman	Huber
1984	Mohawk	Kiowa	Cheyenne	Schley	Rother (1)	Rother
1985	Kiowa	Forkert	Schley	Cheyenne	Rother (1)	Stockbauer
1986	Desirable	Forkert	Cheyenne	Schley	Rother (1)	Stockbauer
1987	Choctaw	Forkert	Cheyenne	Schley	Brzozowski	Rother (1)
1988	Forkert	Choctaw	Schley	Cheyenne	Brzozowski	Moritz
1989	Forkert	Cheyenne	Schley	GraCross	Rother (1)	Groll
1990	Forkert	Cheyenne	GraCross	Schley	Stockbauer	Stockbauer
1991	Forkert	Choctaw	GraCross	Success	Gloor	Stockbauer
1992	Forkert	Cheyenne	Oconee	Success	Moritz	Stockbauer
1993	Forkert	GraTex	Des. Sdlg.	Oconee	Stockbauer	Bauer
1994	Forkert	Cheyenne	Stockbauer	53-12-322	McCants	Stockbauer
1995	Forkert	GraTex	Oconee	Schley	McCants	Edwards
1996	Kiowa	Pawnee	Oconee	Brake	Kallus (1)	Stockbauer
1997	Forkert	Schley	GraTex	Stockbauer	McCants	Stockbauer
1998	Cheyenne	Mohawk	Prilop (1)	Stockbauer	Bauer	Stockbauer
1999	Forkert	Oconee	GraCross	Prilop	Kallus	Stockbauer

(1) Later named "Prilop" and moved to the Classic Division in 1997.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND IMPACT:

Growing and producing the best pecans can not only be self rewarding in taste but also in economics as they usually bring in the top price per pound.

CONCLUSION:

The 1999 pecan crop was a poor yielding pecan crop on improved varieties and on natives but what was made was of high quality. Pecans could be purchased at a price from $0.50 to $2.00 per pound, depending on quality, native or improved, etc. This evaluation also shows there is a major difference in pecan size ranging from about 28 nuts/lb. to over 215 nuts/lb. There is a major difference in percent kernel and kernel quality normally ranging from 39 - 64 percent, about 25 percent more to eat.

The pecan show can also be an excellent place to evaluate varieties that producers may consider propagating. In evaluating for the best varieties, there is also a definite trend showing Forkert, Cheyenne, Oconee, Schley and the Rother native (now known as "Prilop") and Stockbauer native as top contenders for propagation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Appreciation is expressed to all contributing pecan growers in Victoria County listed in this demonstration for donation of their pecan samples for this evaluation to be completed.

Table 1. Pecan Variety Grading Demonstration. Victoria County, TX. December 1, 1999.

	Number/Pound	%Edible Kernel	Co Awd	Adv Reg	Reg Awd	Adv State
COMMERCIAL DIVISION
CADDO
STATE AVERAGE	60.25	55.91
FRED STOCKBAUER	57.93	54.53	1ST	Y	2nd	Y
CHEYENNE
STATE AVERAGE	48.27	57.54
DON SCHUSTEREIT	55.18	52.80
KERNELL MORITZ	53.11	54.80	3RD
DAVID BOHUSLAV	42.23	57.36	1ST	Y	2ND	Y
FRED STOCKBAUER	47.85	55.49	2ND
CHOCTAW
STATE AVERAGE	36.55	58.50
FRED STOCKBAUER	36.23	72.00	1ST	Y
JAMES ROTHER	37.86	67.90	3RD
HENRY JANAK	35.89	54.91	2ND
EDWARD MARTINKA	36.06	54.13
DESIRABLE
STATE AVERAGE	38.44	53.73
FRED STOCKBAUER	38.41	49.20
JAMES ROTHER	34.87	51.88	2ND
DON SCHUSTEREIT	39.86	47.45
ROY JOHNSON	42.67	50.24
HENRY JANAK	35.89	52.06	1ST	Y	2ND	Y
ERWIN ZIMMERMAN	41.85	44.19
DAVID BOHUSLAV	34.71	52.95	3RD
J.C. TECHNIK	43.08	51.28
FORKERT
STATE AVERAGE	41.06	60.96
JAMES ROTHER	36.38	60.22	1ST GC	Y	1ST	Y
FRED STOCKBAUER	35.55	60.50	2ND	Y
KIOWA
STATE AVERAGE	37.97	58.21
FRED STOCKBAUER	34.60	57.97	2ND
JAMES ROTHER	43.16	55.85
DON SCHUSTEREIT	36.35	54.33
HENRY JANAK	35.08	59.71	1ST	Y
J. C. BAKER	35.94	58.56	3RD
KERNELL MORITZ	38.34	55.62
MOHAWK
STATE AVERAGE	32.38	59.20
FRED STOCKBAUER	30.34	59.00	1ST	Y	2ND	Y
ROY JOHNSON	32.06	49.47	2ND
CARL VON DOHLEN	35.11	53.95	3RD
OCONEE
STATE AVERAGE	48.00	54.00
FRED STOCKBAUER	37.74	57.49	2ND	Y	3RD	Y
JAMES ROTHER	39.65	56.82	1ST RC	Y	1ST	Y
PAWNEE
STATE AVERAGE	43.51	57.69
ERWIN ZIMMERMAN	43.28	61.07	1ST	Y
KERNELL MORITZ	41.31	60.47	2ND	Y
SCHLEY
STATE AVERAGE	51.24	60.39
DON SCHUSTEREIT	55.18	50.12	2ND
FRED STOCKBUAER	49.68	57.91	1ST	Y
STUART
STATE AVERAGE	41.95	49.00
FRED STOCKBAUER	42.23	50.19	1ST	Y	3RD	Y
J. C. TECHNIK	58.76	47.93	2ND
TEJAS
STATE AVERAGE	53.51	53.55
FRED STOCKBAUER	49.47	51.58	2ST	Y	1ST	Y
WICHITA
STATE AVERAGE	43.24	61.87
FRED STOCKBAUER	47.75	61.68	1ST	Y	2ND	Y
CLASSIC DIVISION
GRAKING
STATE AVERAGE	34.78	52.81
FRED STOCKBAUER	32.73	53.32	2ND
JAMES ROTHER	33.50	54.58	1ST	Y	3RD	Y
GRATEX
STATE AVERAGE	44.87	63.81
FRED STOCKBAUER	41.50	62.67	1ST	Y	3RD	Y
DON SCHUSTEREIT	54.92	50.61
ERWIN ZIMMERMAN	54.98	60.12	3RD
KERNELL MORITZ	46.81	59.75	2ND
MAHAN
STATE AVERAGE	32.47	58.29
HENRY JANAK	31.39	46.44	3RD
CARL VON DOHLEN	42.83	50.61	2ND
FRED STOCKBAUER	31.83	55.23	1ST	Y	3RD	Y
PODSEDNIK
STATE AVERAGE	29.36	51.27
CINDY SHOOK	31.54	41.86	1ST	Y
J. C. TECHNIK	28.65	46.11	2ND	Y
PRILOP
STATE AVERAGE	0.00	0.00
FRED STOCKBAUER	86.90	57.28
JAMES ROTHER	76.11	56.04	1ST RC	Y	1ST	Y
SARAH KALLUS	74.61	56.09	3RD	Y	2ND	Y
JENNIFER KALLUS	72.69	53.21
JESSICA KALLUS	75.85	56.02	2ND	Y
SHAWNEE
STATE AVERAGE	47.84	58.05
FRED STOCKBAUER	47.25	55.52	2ND
DON SCHUSTEREIT	46.05	45.28
KERNELL MORITZ	48.77	52.80	3RD
DAVID BOHUSLAV	40.86	59.01	1ST	Y	1ST	Y
SUCCESS
STATE AVERAGE	38.43	53.77
FRED STOCKBAUER	35.86	47.98	2ND
ROY JOHNSON	36.29	49.76	1ST	Y
KNOWN HYBRIDS
STATE AVERAGE	0.00	0.00
FRED STOCKBAUER 48-7-11 Stuart	36.11	48.65
FRED STOCKBAUER 53-9-1	37.61	53.65	3RD
FRED STOCKBAUER 46-3-28 Desirable	37.86	51.84	1st	Y	2ND	Y
FRED STOCKBAUER 46-13-311 Moore x Schley	77.27	55.88	2ND
VARIETY SEEDLING
STATE AVERAGE	0.00	0.00
ROY JOHNSON Seedling	38.54	39.08	1ST	Y
OTHER VARIETIES
STATE AVERAGE	0.00	0.00
FRED STOCKBAUER Imperial	29.25	56.48
FRED STOCKBAUER Creek	43.28	54.87		Y
FRED STOCKBAUER GraZona	38.64	55.96
FRED STOCKBAUER Stockbauer	30.14	60.20	2ND
FRED STOCKBAUER Houma	53.24	46.60
FRED STOCKBAUER Navajo	54.78	58.45
FRED STOCKBAUER Gloria Grande	40.86	48.11
FRED STOCKBAUER Brake	50.74	57.94	3RD
FRED STOCKBAUER GraPark Giant	43.78	56.56
JAMES ROTHER GraCross	35.35	56.35	1ST GC	Y	1ST GC	Y
JAMES ROTHER Moreland	46.86	52.07
DAVID BOHUSLAV Hopi	68.94	56.08		Y
NATIVE DIVISION
NATIVES
STATE AVERAGE	0.00	0.00
BERRY ADCOCK	58.15	45.13
FRED STOCKBAUER	50.07	54.19	3RD
FRED STOCKBAUER	81.14	48.48
FRED STOCKBAUER	56.35	49.94	2ND RC	Y
FRED STOCKBAUER	73.16	50.48
JAMES ROTHER	73.28	48.63
JAMES ROTHER	87.23	50.00
JAMES ROTHER	68.42	46.30
JOSEPH KALLUS	54.72	53.92	1ST GC	Y
STATE CHAMPION NATIVE
STATE AVERAGE	0.00	0.00
JOE D. JANAK, JR	64.80	55.29
LIGHTEST PECAN
FRED STOCKBAUER	214.98	0.00
GC = Grand Champion RC = Reserve Champion