Piñon nuts are high in protein, fat, and carbohydrates, and served as a former staple food that is still harvested for home and commercial use. The trees are very slow growing, not reaching full nut productions for one hundred years, but are very long lived. Piñon pines are not especially productive every year, but have cycles of 3-7 years or more for heavy yields. These pine cones take 2-3 years to form, allowing prediction of which groves will be productive in upcoming years.
