On race mornings in the pecan groves, the Green Valley firefighters cooked post-race pancakes and the Sahuarita 4-H kids brought their little petting zoo. Runners came back season after season. The company's own race page still thanks them for "every early morning" spent under the trees.
There won't be one this November. The Pecan Classic 5K and 10K, set for Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, has been canceled because Farmers Investment Co. is selling the orchards. People who registered early are getting refunds.
The orchards will stay in pecan production. The race was the last regular way for the public to spend a morning inside them, and its end caps more than four years of doors closing one at a time.
What the Sale Changes and What It Keeps
On Sept. 17, 2026, FICO announced an agreement to sell its assets, including its pecan orchards in Sahuarita, Continental and San Simon, to a group of pecan growers it did not name. The company said the deal keeps the orchards in pecan production "for the foreseeable future." KVOA reported that the deal covers more than 7,000 acres of Southern Arizona orchards.
Two statements in the release speak to the people who live beside the groves. FICO President and CEO Brian Driscoll said:
"We feel that the buyers of our farm will continue to be outstanding stewards of the land resources and will continue to grow high-quality pecans."
A spokesperson for the buying group said in the same release that FICO "has been a pillar of Sahuarita, Green Valley, and San Simon for decades," and that the buyers are "proud to be joining these communities as growers, neighbors, and caretakers of this land."
The workers are the other half of the story. Because the deal is a transfer of assets and not of the company, everyone's formal employment with FICO ends at closing. FICO has offered a severance package to employees who stay through the transition, and it says the buyer expects to keep most of the current workforce. The buyer's name and the closing date come out when the sale closes, which FICO expects "in the coming months."
So on paper the trees, the crop and most of the crew stay. The part that's ending is the public's access, and that has been shrinking for a while.
Four Ways In, Down to Requests and Appointments
For most of the past decade, a Green Valley resident had several reasons to step off Nogales Highway and into FICO's world. Here's how each one has gone:
| Way in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Green Valley Pecan Store, 1625 E. Sahuarita Road | Closed Dec. 31, 2021 | KGUN, Arizona Daily Star |
| Public orchard tours | No regular public tours. Nonprofits, schools and associations may ask about group visits | FICO tours page |
| FICO's office | Public access by appointment only | FICO contact page |
| Pecan Orchard Run Series | Nut Run held March 28, 2026. Breeze in the Trees held Aug. 8, 2026. Pecan Classic on Nov. 7, 2026 canceled | FICO runs page |
That makes the race series the last open invitation. It ran for 17 years. FICO says runners, sponsors and volunteers together gave more than $100,000 to local nonprofits and community groups over that time. This year's money went to recognizable local names. The March Nut Run supported Sahuarita Unified School District's cross-country and drama programs and the Green Valley Firefighters Association. The August Breeze in the Trees supported Walden Grove X-Country, the Sahuarita 4-H Club, the Greater Green Valley Community Foundation and the firefighters again.
The race page doesn't name a replacement event. Whether the new owners ever open the gates for a run, a tour or anything else is up to a buyer that hasn't been named yet. Until then, the series ends on its August date.
How Long the Groves Have Been Here
The groves are hard to picture as background scenery when you know how long they've been there. Accounts of the founding don't agree. The Arizona Farm and Ranch Hall of Fame says Keith Walden formed FICO in 1946, bought the 10,000-acre Continental Farm in 1948 and moved his family there in 1949. FICO's own timeline dates the company to 1937, records the purchase of 5,000 irrigated acres and 3,000 pasture acres in Sahuarita in 1955, and says more than 6,000 acres were planted in pecans by 1969. By either account, the groves have been growing along the Santa Cruz Valley for more than half a century.
Today FICO lists 5,150 acres at its Sahuarita farm. For most residents, that acreage means the long canopy along Nogales Highway south of Sahuarita Road, the stretch where, as a Green Valley News photo caption puts it, cars drive between pecan groves.
The Season Still Runs, Seen From the Road
Harvest season doesn't follow the deal schedule. In Sahuarita, harvest typically starts at the end of November and runs to about the end of January. Growers wait for a hard freeze to drop the leaves before they start picking, according to a Tucson Sentinel report on the local crop. FICO's harvest explainer describes fall picking that starts once the husks dry and split.
The race calendar followed the trees through the year. FICO described the spring Nut Run as the time when "the trees are awakening," and the August run as the time when the foliage "is at its fullest" and forms "a protective canopy" while the nuts are in mid-growth. In November, runners would have been in the orchards just before the trees go bare. That stretch of the year is still coming. Residents will just watch it from Nogales Highway this time.
What Fills Saturday, Nov. 7
The date opened up in town on its own. Green Valley Recreation scheduled its first annual golf scramble for the same Saturday, Nov. 7, at Haven Golf Course, 110 N. Abrego. Registration is $95 and covers 18 holes, a cart, a swag bag and a barbecue lunch. The scramble is part of GVR's The Big Event, a seven-week October and November program of showcases, arts and craft sales, concerts, dances and tours.
For a weekday morning outdoors, the La Posada Farmer's and Artisan Market has these Mondays left on its fall calendar:
- Monday, Oct. 26
- Monday, Nov. 2
- Monday, Nov. 9
Each runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., weather permitting, with local produce, meats, art, baked goods and entertainers.
Neither one puts you under pecan trees. Until a buyer is named and says what it plans for the orchards, nothing on the public calendar does.
Green Valley's landmarks don't always come with a listing sheet, and the 5,150 acres of Sahuarita groves line Nogales Highway south of Sahuarita Road. If you'd like to talk about how the area is changing, from the groves along Nogales Highway to the homes nearby, the agents at 1912 Realty are happy to sit down with you. Book an Appointment and we'll start with what's actually happening on the ground.
