The APC Votes NOT to Fund December USDA Pecan Crop Estimate or January Preliminary Crop Overview

For over 100 years, the USDA has been the preeminent collector and publisher of commodity data. Grains, beans, corn, wheat, meat, eggs, lumber, etc., commodity buyers from around the world rely on USDA’s data to predict market swings, develop marketing strategies, enter new markets, etc.  Do they always get it right, no.  However, with over 100 years of data at their disposal, there is no better resource available to the ag industry, the buyer and the consumer, that is unless you are in the pecan industry.

While the pecan industry has made great strides in working together since 2016, for every step forward, there continues to be two steps back.  Yesterday was one such day.  Because of pressure from several major growers, and at least one major sheller, the American Pecan Council has decided NOT to fund the December crop estimate or the January preliminary overview of the crop which includes the size of the crop, the prices paid to the farmer and the yield per acre.  Never mind the fact that there is no other source for said information, or that the USDA is the only impartial evaluator available to the industry, those few growers, and at least one major sheller, would rather keep the industry in the dark.  Why would they want that?  Because it gives them the option to make up their own numbers, and therefore, manipulate prices. They did this under the guise of ‘helping’ the industry because the USDA only counts pecan production from 5 states.  It doesn’t matter that those states account for 85% of US production, making the projection statistically valid, nor does it matter that due to the land area covered by the industry, or its significant native component, a 16-state exact count is both physically impossible and economically unfeasible. These companies claim that there must be a better way to get a crop estimate.  As partial justification for the decision, they claim that the price of the two reports was too high.  At approximately $250,000 per year (total), what the USDA was charging the industry was extremely reasonable compared to what an exact count would cost, just ask the almond industry.  Further, to date, no one has been able to come up with a better ‘mouse trap.’  Should the industry just accept the USDA figures, NO!  However, while researching possible alternatives, why abandon the only currently available solution?  Keep funding it while other options are explored.  I would like to think that they are afraid of the data because they don’t understand it, how to use it or how to use it for everyone’s benefit.  But data collection is not what these companies want.  They seek control, not for the benefit of the industry, but for own their bottom line.  There is an old saying that ‘he who controls the information controls the mob.’  That is what’s going on here.  Feigning ignorance is not an excuse for stupidity, and what was done yesterday was pure stupidity!  It was a terrible decision!