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You asked: Was this year’s pecan crop hurt by Hurricane Irene?

COURTLAND—Courtland resident Randy Moore lost all the pecans from the nine trees on his property this year, thanks to strong winds associated with Hurricane Irene.

The sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph and gusts of up to 59 whipped through three sides of his land because the property was surrounded by fields.

Moore said areas with pecan trees surrounded by more vegetation would’ve fared better.

“We lost all of our pecans because of the hurricane,” he said. “Normally it would’ve been a good year for them. It was looking really good and the trees were just loaded.”

Neil Drake, owner of Grayson and Emma’s Garden Stop in Courtland, said he hasn’t had as many to sell this year as in previous years.

“I haven’t had a lot of people come around with pecans,” Drake said.

He said he suspects many of the nuts were knocked out of trees because of the high winds with the storm.

Drake said an abundance of rain should have created an above-average nut crop this year, but added that a warm fall could’ve led to a late harvest because many of the trees are just now losing their leaves.

Drake said if pecans were knocked off trees before they were mature they would not be marketable.