Austin County had eighteen (18) pecan entries advance from the county show to the East Regional Pecan Show for the 2024 crop year. The East Regional Pecan Show, which included entries from county pecan shows and at-large submissions, was judged on February 4th at the TAMU HortTREC facility. A total of 136 entries were judged, featuring 33 named varieties of improved pecans, variety seedlings, and natives, submitted by 44 different growers or organizations from 14 counties. The judges for the show were members of the USDA-ARS Pecan Breeding and Genetics Lab in College Station. The panel included Dr. Xinwang Wang, Keith Kubenka, Braden Tondre, Elin Swank, and Jared McLaurin.
Champions from Austin County:
- Commercial Division Champions were Lloyd & Connie Boedeker, DeWitt County (Grand-Wichita cultivar), Robert Schuetze, Milam County (Reserve-Forkert cultivar)
- Classic & New Division Champions were Fritz Pecan Farm, Washington County (Grand-Lakota cultivar), Kernell Moritz, Victoria County (Reserve-Brake cultivar)
- Native Division Champions were Luedeker Farm, Austin County (Grand), Andrew Kutac, Fayette County (Reserve)
The excitement continued on February 16th in College Station, where Dr. Xinwang Wang and Dr. Angelyn Hilton, both from the USDA Pecan Genetics team, served as judges for the event.
Those from Austin County who placed included:
Luedeker Farms
- Native Champion
- 1st Place Natives
Industry Methodist Church
- 1st Place Mahan
- 1st Place Success
- 3rd Place Schley
Lois Steele
- 2nd Place Prilop
- 1st Place Past State Champion (2010 Champion)
Ben Underwood
- 1st Place Lightest Pecan (113 pecans to make 1 lb.)
These winning individuals will now move on to the State show, where the final results will be announced in July.
For more information or questions, you can reach out to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent, Stacie Villarreal, at 979-865-2072.
