The American pecan industry’s stable growth continues to impress industry experts as the global economic shutdown has disrupted other industries, even threatening bankruptcy of multibillion dollar companies in non-essential services.
American farmers have been feeling the pain of the ongoing trade war between the US and China, as China has reduced its purchases of US agricultural products and levied high tariffs on many of the major commodities produced by US farmers in an effort to discourage purchases from the US. The tactic has worked somewhat, in March to May of 2018 soybean prices were hovering slightly above $10 here in the US as tensions between the two countries began to escalate, soybean prices dropped sharply in the US to around $8.50 a bushel and have remained for over almost 2 years.
Tree nuts from the US also took a big hit with the trade war, Almonds shipments were down 33% from April 2018 to April 2019 and down another 20% from April 2019 to April 2020. Pecan shipments to China have also suffered significantly as China had become the largest trading partner for the US pecan industry due to marketing efforts by the US Pecan Growers Council decade long campaign.