Despite one of the worst years on record for all agriculture in the county including pecan production, the pecan show must go on.
The Comanche County Pecan Show is an annual tradition that has been held for as far back as anyone can remember.
The show is a great opportunity to highlight one of the most valuable commodities produced here in the county.
This year’s show will be held on Friday, December 2nd at 8:30 a.m. at the Comanche Agents office with judging beginning as soon as we complete the processing of pecans.
Entries will be accepted from all pecan growers, whether you have 1 or 100,000 trees, but the pecans must have been grown during this year and by the person that is entering the nuts.
Pecan entries need to be dropped off at the Comanche County Extension office by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 30th.
If you cannot get the pecans to us on the 30th, please call and let us know what you will be bringing. It helps us to have all the entries already entered in the computer program before processing starts.
A pecan entry must have a minimum of 50 nuts and be labeled with a variety name, exhibitor name, address, and phone number. Growers are limited to one entry of each variety but there is no limit on numbers of entries of seedling or native pecans. I encourage you to enter a sample of your best pecans in the show. There is no charge and you might win a major award.
Here are some tips for selecting the best pecans for show: Make selections from young trees because they usually produce heavier and bigger nuts than older trees. Pick nuts from trees with a light pecan crop to ensure an above average kernel percentage.
Harvest pecans immediately following nut drop to prevent pecan kernels from rotting when soils are wet and to preserve a light color.
Sunlight darkens kernel color. Do not alter nut appearance by polishing or rubbing. Select nuts that are uniform in size because this is a judging criterion. Keep your samples refrigerated until the pecan show. Be sure your sample includes only nuts of one variety. Submit a minimum of 50 nuts.
If you live in a surrounding county that does not have a show, please feel free to enter your pecans in the Comanche County Show.
Due to the drought this year entries are going to be hard to come by, if you have a tree that made some nuts, please collect some and enter them in the show.