The supply of pecans is threatened by the peculiar weather that has hit Texas and other states over recent months. There was a severe drought in the summer followed by flooding. The heat prevented nuts in some areas from maturing. Some growers were harvesting as the water rose, and lost part of the crop, together with some of their equipment. A crop of 40 million pounds had been forecast in Texas, but 35 million pounds is more likely. In Georgia, the pecan harvest is expected to be down 45 percent, to 60 million pounds.

To offset this, distributors have been buying pecans from other states and Mexico. Producers are also releasing pecans that had been kept in cold storage since the bumper crop in 1997. As a result, the effect of the weather on the supply of nuts may be less than feared. The price of a pound of shelled pecan meat is expected to rise from $4.50 to $5 last year to $5 to $6 this year.

(Updated February 1, 1999)