A Tour of Voss Pecans Top Ten Things I learned!

I love pecans and when I got the chance to go on a tour of Voss Pecans, the only commercial pecan farm in Illinois I jumped.  The tour went on all day, with nut growers coming in the morning, and Trees Forever Members touring in the afternoon.  Keith and I came to the afternoon session and walked through the grove and watched the amazing tree shaker literally shake pecans right out of the pecan trees.  Then they used a nut harvester that picked up the pecans like a mini combine.

All in all what did I learn in my tour?

I will do a Top Ten Like David Letterman!

1. The biggest insect threat to the pecans is the Stink Bug.
2. Pecans can grow all the way up to Springfield, Illinois.
3. At Voss Pecans they use a tree shaker to shake the pecans out of the tree.
4. Pecans grow naturally along the Kaskaskia River.
5. A pecan tree can live 100 years.
6. A Hican is a hickory and pecan hybrid.
7. The Voss family has a bird call that gives a distress call to crows and blue birds to keep them away from the nuts.  They use a cannon after the 3 weeks when the crows get smart.
8. A squirrel can eat up to 50 pounds of pecans.
9. Mexico will soon surpass the US in pecan production.
10. Voss Pecans is the only commercial pecan grower in the State of Illinois.