F oc u s on agriculture
from the
Orchard Table to the
by Staci Guy
Have you ever stopped to think about where those delicious pecan pieces atop your ice cream sundae came from, or what farm produced those perfectly halved pecans on those slices of restaurant pecan pie? Chances are they were grown in orchards like those owned by Chase Farms. In the late 1980s, local businessman and entrepreneur Mack Chase ventured out from the oil and gas business to dabble in a new industry -- pecan farming. With only a handful of employees, Chase Farms was incorporated in 1987. The rest, as they say, is history! “We planted our first orchard – 40 acres – over by the shop on Bolton Road,” said farm manager Bill Kuykendall, who was one of the very first employees of Chase Farms. “We filled up that farm and then purchased another one. And that’s how we’ve done it since we started.” Fast forward to 2013 and Chase Farms is one of the largest pecan producers in the region with more than 3,000 acres of farmland in New Mexico – the Pecos Valley to be specific – and another 2,500 in Arizona. And those four or five employees? Well, that number now hovers around a couple hundred. “I don’t think anyone really knew it would get this big,” Kuykendall admits. “We hoped it would and we knew we wanted it to, but we didn’t really expect this. And we’re still growing as fast as we can.” photos left to right:
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• The majority of trees planted by Chase Farms are what they call bare roots. Typically trees that are two to four years old are considered bare roots. • For the first two years after bare roots are planted, crews spray white latex paint on the west side of the trees’ trunks to act as sunscreen and protect them from the setting sun. • Pecan trees in an orchard, planted three years ago.
focus on industry | 2013
The pecan growing process
Kuykendall was kind enough to share some industry secrets and give readers a crash course in pecan growing 101, starting from square one.
Planting
“When we purchase a new farm, we either laser the land completely level so we can flood it (to water the trees), or if the land is too rocky or sloped or not good for lasering, we will put in sprinklers,” he shared. Once the land is prepped and ready, it’s time for the trees – bare roots usually. “Bare roots are what we call trees that are two to four years old,” he explained. “We keep them cool and moist with a little sawdust until we are ready to plant them.” In some cases, however, a new piece
of farmland will get trees that were “crowded into” a different farm land as bare roots and transplanted once they reached an optimal size. During this process, Kuykendall said they will crowd in a large number of bare roots and once they start growing and overcrowding the land, his crews will move a portion of them to a new piece of farmland. “The tree spade only gets a quarter of the roots or so, so you have to cut the tops back so they don’t go into shock and die,” he added. Once planted, Kuykendall said pecan trees typically take eight to ten years to begin producing quality nuts. It’s a process that takes time and money. “Basically, the older trees are supporting the newer trees because they take a lot of water and fertilizer and care for a long time before you can make any money off of them,” he noted.