Farmers Investment Co.(FICO) announced today that the 2019 Sahuarita Pecan Festival is cancelled.
The annual event, originally scheduled for Nov. 9, has been a Sahuarita tradition for the last 10 years but according to their press release is no longer feasible under the current “global economic conditions.”
FICO pointed to the imposition of trade tariffs upon the pecan industry as a major factor in the decision to cancel the event.
Last year, the industry took a major hit when China, the top purchaser of U.S. pecans, imposed a 47 percent tariff on them. The increase happened incrementally, with China imposing a seven percent increase in 2017, a 15 percent increase in April of last year and an additional 25 percent last July.
The impacts of the increased tariff have been felt by pecan farmers across the nation including Texas, New Mexico and Georgia.
FICO also cited the “significant expenditure of funds” involved in producing the festival and staff time as factors in the decision.
The pecan festival averaged about 20,000 guests annually since it began in 2009.
The Pecan Classic race on Nov. 9 will still occur as scheduled.
This article appears in Aug 15-21, 2019.
May be a dumb question but why was China the largest buyer? Could other countries be convinced to step up and fill the void?
Pecans have become a popular snack in China. They bust them open and then soak them in a salty or sweet or salty/sweet liquid and then eat them.
China buys/bought about 1/3 of the total U.S. pecan crop.
The reason why they are the largest buyer of U.S. pecans is a matter of scale.
Just get every Chinese in the country to eat one pecan a day and you just sold a billion pecans.
“We’re going to win. We’re going to win so much. We’re going to win at trade, we’re going to win at the border. We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning, you’re going to come to me and go ‘Please, please, we can’t win anymore.’ You’ve heard this one. You’ll say ‘Please, Mr. President, we beg you sir, we don’t want to win anymore. It’s too much. It’s not fair to everybody else.’ And I’m going to say I’m sorry, but we’re going to keep winning, winning, winning, We’re going to make America great again.” — Donald J. Trump
Voting for Trump was economic suicide for soy , pork, and pecan farmers. Here’s the big question though, will they hold their noses, check their empty bank accounts, and look at their fields not planted then vote for Trump again. I’ve seen it happen with my grandparents because they were too ignorant and uneducated to comprehend that Republicans have been responsible for most Depressions and Recessions in this nation. To think of Republicans as good economists is equivalent to thinking that televangelists are only interested in getting you into heaven.
It all has a ripple effect… like our air and water, it circulates so how can we try to create so much separations with other countries? Stupidity really. Pecans have been and will always be the most expensive nut. I love to roast them with walnuts and candied them for salads and mix snacks. A family tradition!
They won’t need to hold their noses, all they have to do is look at how Biden is being treated by the socialists/communists running in the primary. That and look at the actions of Antifa over the weekend in Portland. This is a angry violent mob bent on harming people. It eliminates Dems as a choice.
We Will Survive….I’m sorry, all of the violence that has been against American citizens has been done by right-wingers.
So who beat Andy Ngo?
… there were tense skirmishes, mostly with antifa protesters who were trying to find right-wing rallyers, throughout the day.
Trying to “find” them. That is left wing reporting for you.
Bah, insurance companies blamed Obama-care when they jacked up rates and canceled policies after it passed. Turns out, that was just a convenient scapegoat for something they’d done for years.
I don’t believe FICO anymore than I believe Aetna or Blue Cross.
Trade them to Cuba for cigars and then let Cuba sell them at a loss.