Technical Abstract: Major issues limiting profitabiity of pecan orchard operations are management of tree crowding, alternate bearing, and light management in orchards. Key principles are presented that provide the foundation needed for the tailoring of hedge pruning based orchard management strategies that minimize the adverse economic impact of the aforementioned problems. This information provides orchard managers with the basic understanding needed to tailor hedge pruning strategies to specific orchard situations, thus acting to increase the chances of orchard profitability.