Biological Managem nt of PecansOrchard Undergoes Transformation

After exhausting conventional grow-ing methods, a program of organic in-puts and biological treatments helpedturn the tide at the Perz Pecan Orchard,transforming it into a profitable venturefor owners Dennis and Marilyn Perz.

The 25-acre Perz Pecan Orchard issituated just north of Georgetown, Tex-as, in Williamson County - the heart ofthe Blackland Prairie. Most of the pecansproduced at the orchard are sold at localfarmers' markets and regional events andto a few commercial customers such asrestaurants and food brokers featuringlocal and organic foods. They also shippecans throughout the United States ingift packages.

FROM COTTON TO PECANSPrevious owners established the or-

chard in 1978-80 on land originally usedfor growing cotton. Five varieties of bareroot trees were planted at the recom-mendation of pecan specialists at TexasA&M University (TAMU). The cultivarsincluded Mohawk, Choctaw, Desirable,Kiowa, and Cheyenne and totaled about760 trees.

The Perzes purchased the property inlate 1996, even though the orchard wasin poor condition. A number of treeshad died and many others exhibitedstunted growth. The irrigation system\\'as in serious disrepair. Minimal at-tention had been given to the trees andinfrastructure for several years and nutproduction was well below break even.

Following the pecan harvest in 1998,the Perzes assumed hands-on manage-ment of the orchard. Given the poorcondition of trees growing on uplandclay soils, a county agricultural agent anda T-\1\!lU pecan horticulturalist both ad-vised that the orchard was neither viablenor worth pursuing. A local pecan growerenlisted as a paid consultant was moreencouraging and provided helpful advice.

CONVENTIONAL MANAGEMENTA conventional management pro-

gram as recommended by TAivH-Twasundertaken and followed for six growingseasons from 1999 to 2004. The programrelied on chemical fertilizers, herbicide

strips or circles around trees, and appli-cation of synthetic insecticides and fun-gicides to manage the trees and providefor control of pecan pests, which includepecan nut casebearer, pecan scab, pecanweevil, and on occasion, aphids.

During this time replacement treeswere planted and successfully established,older trees stopped dying, the irrigationsystem was repaired and improved, anda new water well dedicated to tree irriga-tion was installed. The trees grew slowlyand production increased, but financialresults were still unsatisfactory.

Soil and foliar data collected annuallyindicated a significant mineral imbal-ance with deficiencies of sulfur, phos-phorus, potassium, magnesium, copper,iron, manganese, and boron. This deficitlevel of minerals is atypical for BlacklandPrairie soils and may have been a con-sequence of earlier cotton production.Poor fertility coupled with unsuitablyshallow and tight clay soils made pecangrowing seem impractical.

SUSTAINABLE SWITCHIn 2004, Dennis Perz attended a soil

food web seminar held in Texas taughtby Elaine Ingham with Soil Foodweb,Inc. (SFI). The biological approach shedescribed - relying on soil food web ac-tivity to release nutrients and drive planthealth - was a radical departure fromthe chemically-intensive, input drivenmethods recommended by TAMU.

Eager to try a different approach, Perzcontacted Betsy Ross, owner of Sustain-able Growth Texas, LLC (SGTX), locatedin Granger, Texas, to get started. Rosshad become a regional soil food web ad-visor with SFI while managing the familyfarm, a 530-acre grass-fed beef opera-tion, with compost teas, liquid compostextracts and bio-stimulants. SGTX, abiological service company that manageslarge acreages of pastures, orchards, andlandscapes in Texas with a customizedbio-spray program, was an outgrowth ofthis experience.

For the last six growing seasons(2005-10) the Perzes have collaboratedwith SGTX to manage the orchard withorganic inputs and biological treatmentsalthough the orchard is not certifiedorganic. Commercial fertilizers weredropped the first year and haven't beenused since. The only pesticide being usedis spino sad - for control of pecan nutcasebearer.

During this time, SGTX providedcustom blended biological treatments

and the Perzes implemented organic or-chard management practices. After yearsof chemical use, the first task was to re-store life into the soil and invigorate thesoil food web. With an aim to match mi-crobial succession to a pecan forest eco-system, all treatments have been gearedtoward promoting fungal soil ecology.A regular schedule of soil analysis andorchard walks has guided the process.

The biological treatments consistedof three or four applications at criticalstages of the pecan trees' yearly growingand fruiting cycle. This was done using asequence of bio-augmentation and bio-

stimulation blends, applied as a liquidspray to soil and understory vegetation.

The Bio-Augmentation Mix containsa blend of liquid biological amendments(liquid compost extract and biologicalinoculants) as well as selected microbialstrains that serve a special function. Themix includes ancillary carbon ingredi-ents to feed the microbes when they landon new territory, trace elements, andhomeopathic combinations. The goalwas to add soil life, increase microbialdiversity, and get more parts of the soilfood web to start functioning.

The Bio-Stimulation Mi..x containsa blend of microbial foods and bio-stimulants, soluble minerals and traceelements, and organic nitrogen and car-bon sources to feed and stimulate soilbiology. The purpose is both to stimulate

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soil food web functioning and to provide a boost of energy atcritical times in the orchard year.

Steinernema parasitic nematodes are amended to the bio-spray a couple times each year for suppression of pecan weevillarvae, a biological control method verified by Dr. Dayid Han-Shapiro with USDA-ARS in Byron, Georgia. Ectomycorrhizalinoculant is applied in combination with soil aeration in latewinter, a method promoted by Dr. Joe Bradford, retired USDA-ARS scientist who conducted pioneering research on organicpecans in Texas. The ectomycorrhizal fungi help make phos-phorus and nutrients more available through symbiotic rootcolonization.

Orchard management practices entailed mulching withwood chips around young trees, application of poultry litterand compost, amending rock phosphate to compost windrows,foliar zinc and micronutrients, irrigation, mowing, and sowingclovers. In addition, grafting and re-working a few trees is anannual task.

FIELD NOTESThe Perzes share their observations and practices since

adopting a biological management program at the orchard:• Horse herb (Calyptocarpus vialis), a native vmodland ground

cover which thrives in fungal soil conditions, appeared under thelargest trees in the orchard. But we didn't plant any horse herb; itarrived as a volunteer. Simultaneously, KR Bluestem - a lowersuccessional grass requiring bacterial conditions - began tonaturally disappear without any herbicides. This natural shift invegetation continues to progress across the orchard.

• Repairs to irrigation lines and tees are an annual chore.Early on, a good year meant 50 to 75 upgrades. Digging in thetight soil during summer was hot and laborious. Two years intothe biological program we completed 200 upgrades in a singleseason. The tilth and texture of the soil became noticeablylooser and easier to dig in.

• Loosening of the soil had an immediate effect on treegrowth and vigor. Expansion of trunk diameter was an earlyindicator of improved tree health. Twelve-inch tree trunks andlarger are now common. During our years of conventional

management lateral roots were absent inthe orchard. Under the biological pro-gram, with improvements to soil tilth,aboveground spread of lateral root flareshas become very noticeable. The pres-ence of these lateral roots can be seen onolder and younger trees alike.

• Foliar scorch, appearing in Junethrough August, had been a yearly prob-lem which we attributed to a mineralimbalance. Feeding the soil with organicmatter (pelletized poultry litter from2006-08, thereafter with compost) andspraying the soil with the bio-sprays haseliminated this problem. Maintaininghealthy foliage throughout the growingseason has been key to sustained treevigor and growth. We had a record nutcrop in 2007.

• Eachyear wejudge and record noteson condition of trees, foliage, and nutsseveral times during the growing season.These kinds of records have proved in-valuable. Vlfesee improvements in leafcolor, leaflet size, and stem extension aswell as retention of healthy, green foliagefor longer periods through the fall.

We have experienced heavy flower-ing and fruit set in three of the last fouryears. A severe drought gripped CentralTexas during 2008 and 2009 and dam-aged many pecan trees in the area.Whilenut size was small in 2009, the combi-nation of soil biology, irrigation andwell-timed fall rains produced an aboveaveragecrop for the area.

• The return crop in 2010 has beenunexpectedly large with many of thetrees appearing overloaded. Ample falland winter rains in 2009-2010 aided thedrought recovery. We are expecting arecord crop of large pecans.

• Greatly increased tree vigor andgrowth commencing with the biologi-cal program has forced us to deal withovercrowding. Though one of the hard-est tasks for a pecan grower,we'vebeguncutting down and removing trees toopen up the middles and allow bettersunlight penetration, root space, waterand nutrient availability. Tree wood ischipped on-site and composted in twolarge windrows.

• In 2009 we stopped buying poultrylitter and have since relied on compostand winter-annual cover crops to supplyorganic matter and microbial food. The

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cover crop mix includes native and seededvetches and clovers, but the understoryalso includes a rich diversity of seasonalforbs and grasses, which we see as a re-flection of belowground diversity. Thisunderstory, which we allowed to grow tal!in the spring of 2010, serves as a sourceof biologically-fixed nitrogen, living bio-mass, soil organic matter, and beneficialinsect habitat; plus it generates organicacids that aid microbial extraction ofmineral nutrients in our alkaline soils.

• Insect and disease occurrence hasbeen very manageable. We've had onesignificant scab event in 12 seasons, anddo not plan to use fungicides. Spino sadis the only insecticide we use and onlyfor pecan casebearers in years where IPMmonitoring indicates the need. An ento-mologist at TAMU is using our orchardas a control site to study yellow aphidssince we've never applied an insecticidefor aphids. We have a few pecan weevils,but the population has not changed inthe last five years. Diligent orchard floorsanitation and the parasitic nematodesadded to the bio-spray mix are helpingsuppress pecan weevil larvae in the soil.

As we make further improvements tothe irrigation system, we judge that thebiology continues to penetrate deeperinto the soil, thereby reducing compac-

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tion and aiding root growth in concertwith mycorrhizal colonization.

Some questions remain to be ex-plored. Can sufficient zinc nutritionthrough soil micronutrient sprays incombination with microbes be obtained?Currently the Perzes are putting on fiveto six foliar zinc applications per year.Can soil biology and winter legumesprovide sufficient nitrogen over the longhaul? Can return crops and good yieldsbe maintained year after year, thus miti-gating alternate bearing?

The orchard functions as a for-profitbusiness and as a working model ofa natural biological management sys-tem at work, and as an experimentallaboratory where continuous, sustain-able improvement is a long-term goal.Based on achievements with the biologi-cal approach thus far, the Perzes expecttheir trees will keep growing better andbecoming more productive.

"All in all, our 'radical departure'from conventional pecan growing meth-ods has been a successful and rewardingexperience;' said Dennis Perz.

Dennis and Marilyn Perz can be reached at512-864-3828; Steve Diver at 512-944-8928;Betsy Ross at 512-636-3711 or visit www.sustainablegrowthtexas.com.