Keysville, GA |

Eight months after Hurricane Helene tore through southeast Georgia, pecan growers are still grappling with the storm’s devastating impact—an event now considered more destructive to the state’s pecan industry than even Hurricane Michael. Heavy rains and powerful winds flattened orchards, toppled mature trees, and left producers reeling just weeks before harvest.

“You had virtually seventy-five percent crop loss in the counties the hurricane hit,” says Andrew Sawyer, Area Pecan Agent with UGA. “But the biggest, hardest thing was the tree loss. Almost 400,000 trees were down. And then you have the future income loss. The total impact will easily surpass Hurricane Michael, and when Michael happened, we didn’t think we’d see anything worse than that.”

For growers, losing a tree means far more than losing a single harvest. It means starting over—and waiting more than a decade to regain profitability.

“It’s one thing to lose the crop and say, ‘Well, we’ll try again next year,’” Sawyer explains. “But when you lose the tree, you lose the crop with it—and future production. Pecan trees take seven to eight years before they begin producing again. But to make your money back, due to planting costs, it’s really more like fifteen years.”

Months later, cleanup efforts continue across the region. While some growers are making progress, others—particularly those in the hardest hit zones—are still in the early stages.

“For some, it’s been very slow,” says Sawyer. “There are still trees on the ground that haven’t even been cleaned up. But in places where the tree loss was maybe thirty to forty percent, they’ve at least been able to clear out the debris, and the remaining trees have a shot at producing this year. Replanting, for most, will begin next year.”

Amid all the challenges, there’s a glimmer of hope. Sawyer says that in some areas, even those hit hardest by the storm, surviving trees are showing signs of resilience—and production.

“Generally, after a big storm like that, you don’t expect a crop. So this has been a surprise,” he says. “Across East and Southeast Georgia, there’s actually a very decent crop on the remaining trees. Some of it is even in the hardest hit areas. In other regions it’s more spotty, but across several varieties I’ve looked at, there’s reason to be optimistic. And that wasn’t expected.”

By: John Holcomb