Pecan growers get a high price for their crop when pecans are comparatively scarce, but the price drops sharply when pecans are abundant  Thus, in high-yield years, growers often hold back part of their crop in refrigerated warehouses for one or two years, hoping for higher prices in the future  This year' s pecan crop was the smallest in five years
It is nonetheless quite possible that a portion of this year' s crop will be held back, since
the practice of holding back part of one year's crop had not yet become widespread the last time the pecan crop was as small as it was this year