Austin County had 26 pecan entries advance from the county show to the East Regional Pecan Show for the 2025 crop year.
Entries in the East Regional Pecan Show, those coming through county pecan shows and by at-large process, were judged Feb. 3 and 4 at TAMU HortTREC facility in College Station.
There were 158 entries, including 34 named varieties of improved pecans, variety seedlings, and natives entered by 60 different growers or organizations in 15 different counties. Austin County had the highest representation in the region.
Judges evaluating entries were Dr. Xinwang Wang, Dr.
Angelyn Hilton, Keith Kubenka, and Braden Tondre, USDA- ARS Pecan Genetics Laboratory, Somerville.
A special thank you to all of those who helped with the cracking and sorting before judging, Robert Luedeker, pecan grower, Austin County, Tim Meier, pecan grower, Fayette County, Bill Ree, pecan grower-Burleson County, Jim White, pecan grower, Jody Taylor, CEA-ANR, Fort Bend County, Kyle Despain, CEAANR, Washington County, and Dr. Kyle Slusher, Extension Specialist-Entomology-Stephenville Center.
•Grand Champion Native Pecan: Tim Meier, Fayette Co.
•Reserve Champion Native Pecan: Joe Janak, Lavaca Co.
•Grand Champion Classic- New Division: Tim Meier, Fayette Co., variety-Fayette
•Reserve Champion Classic- New Division: Mad Crow Grove, Burleson Co., variety- Cape Fear
•Grand Champion Commercial Division: Lloyd and-Connie Boedeker, DeWitt Co., variety-Cheyenne
•Reserve Champion Commercial Division: John and Bertha Abraham, Wharton Co., variety-Pawnee The results are as follows: Places were given down as far as the judge saw necessary in each of the categories. In the Native category, there were 19 entries, and the top five will
move on to the Regional Contest.
Those placing from Austin
County were:
•Second Place Mahan – Tina Webb;
•Third Place Shawnee – Clint Rinn;
•Second Place Stuart – Tina Webb;
•Third Place Stuart – Amy and Bubba Wood;
•Second Place Success – Chance Riden;
•First Place Variety Seedling – Pete Berckenhoff;
•First Place Mohawk – Ronnie Kuciemba;
•Second Place Schley – Tina Webb;
•Second Place Lightest Pecan – Charlotte Rinn;
•Third Place Lightest Pecan – Sherry Burnham.
These 10 will advance to the State show, with results in July. For more information contact the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent Stacie Vil- larreal at 979-865-2072.
