Tag Archives: peaches

From Freeze to Feast: Georgia Peach Orchards Rebound with Bumper Crop in 2024!

Posted on by

Fort Valley, GA |

What a difference a year makes. After seeing orchards full of damaged peaches in 2023 due to a late freeze, it is the complete opposite this time around, as there will be plenty of fruit to harvest in 2024, after Mother Nature served up an ideal spring for growers.

“That was nice to go through a Spring where we didn’t really have to crank up the wind machines and we weren’t running around burning hay bales and a lot of stuff that doesn’t make a lot of difference, but we think we’re helping, but this year, it was a good kind of Spring that you would like to order up if you could,” says Al Pearson, Owner of Pearson Farms.

“We normally expect some damage from cold, and so, normally an eighty percent crop, eighty percent of full bloom and full crop in every orchard, is usually a full crop. This year, we had pretty much a full crop across the board. I’ve seen peaches in places I’ve never seen peaches before,” says Jeff Cook, County Extension Coordinator.

Those favorable conditions were a continuation from the winter months, which saw the crop receive more than an adequate number of chill hours. In fact, the growing season was optimal enough to serve as a gauge for the future.

“This year is a barometer for us that, with the no frost and a good Winter and such, if we have a problem with a peach variety this year, we need to think about not planting it,” says Pearson.

That isn’t to say the weather was perfect, as there are always issues to deal with throughout the year.

“We’ve had another wet year so far. It’s dried off recently, but we’ve had a really wet year. I think we’re thirty something inches of rain already for the year. So, we’ve had a really wet year. When you’re growing a crop that’s perishable like a peach, it has a bunch diseases. Moisture is one thing that feeds a disease. If you’ve got a crop that the disease attacks, and then you have plenty of moisture, if you can’t protect that fruit, then you can have some issues,” says Cook.

Despite that, it is expected to be a bumper crop, which does create some complications when preparing orchards for harvest.

“That just made it for a lot tougher, a lot harder job to go in there and prune and then come back and subsequently thin. Once we knew ‘hey, we, we’ve got a crop, now we’ve got to get it thinned so we can size them up and have good, quality peaches.’ You’ve only got so many people who you plan for the year that you’ve got coming in, coming to work, and those guys have to be able to get around to the whole farm. This year, they actually had to go to the whole farm to try and thin peaches because there were peaches everywhere,” says Cook.

However, you won’t find any growers complaining about a big crop, as they are excited to get their fruit out to consumers in the coming months.

“It’s dry right now, hot and dry, but that makes peaches taste real good. So that’s a good thing and we know that the fruit that we deliver is going to ripen well for the customer and be a good thing to eat,” says Pearson.

By: Damon Jones

Legislators, Peach Producers Discuss Disaster Relief for Peaches

Posted on by

Fort Valley, GA

Consumers will be seeing a lot less of Georgia’s signature fruit on shelves, as more than ninety percent of this year’s peach crop was lost after growers endured a late freeze just as their trees were starting bloom, which leaves them in a tough spot heading into the future.

“We’ve had several poor crops, and this year is the worst crop in thirty years, and we’re just pretty devastated about trying to get through this,” says Robert Dickey, Chairman of the House Ag Committee. “We’re needing to plant more acres and carry our trees until next year. So, hopefully we can get some disaster relief funding to supplement our other income.

It’s a call for help Georgia Senator, Jon Ossoff is hoping to answer promptly, in order to keep the state’s number one industry running strong.

“The federal government and US Department of Agriculture have a role to play in ensuring that farmers and growers in Georgia and across the country who face this kind of risk and put their livelihoods and their resources on the line every year with uncertainty about tough weather and other things that can impact their crop,” says Senator Ossoff. “The federal government has a role to play in providing smart, targeted disaster assistance.”

It’s an issue Ossoff says he will push hard for once back in the nation’s capital, despite some of the pushback it is likely to receive.

“What I want to do is, as we move through the appropriations process in congress, see if we can appropriate targeted, smart disaster relief funds for Georgia’s peach growers. Of course, you know, as polarized and divided as the political environment is these days, it’s tough to get things done. but my job is to represent all Georgians, including Georgia agriculture. So, I’m going to work to try and get this done,” says Ossoff.

That assistance is vital for the peach industry and its future, as crop insurance isn’t near enough to cover this type of devastation.

“It’s tough. We’ll have to borrow lots more money to make it until next year, and it’s, it’s a whole twelve months until, until we get income again,” says Dickey.

“That’s an emergency situation where the existing programs may not be sufficient and targeted relief may be necessary. So, while the existing crop insurance programs can be helpful, sometimes you need supplemental help when you have a situation that is as dire as this one. And it’s in our state’s interest and our nation’s interest to ensure that farmers stay on their feet,” says Ossoff.

In turn keep the state on its feet as this disaster has far reaching implications on the entire economy here in Georgia. [Robert]

“We’ve got processors that cannot do the processing, consumers looking for Georgia peaches. We’re losing our customers. They’re going to other fruits and vegetables. We’re doing a lot of mail ordering now, and we’ve got regular customers that can’t receive their peaches. It’s just a cascade of issues and problems that we are facing this year. Not to mention trying to keep our trees healthy and going until next year,” says Dickey.

Significant Decline in this Year’s Peach Crop

Posted on by

Musella, GA

This time of year is usually a cause for celebration for peach growers. However, there won’t be too many smiles this year as freezing temperatures late in the growing season have them harvesting just a fraction of their overall crop.

“We’re kind of estimating somewhere between twenty percent, twenty-five percent of a crop, something like that, and that varies by variety,” says Lee Dickey, Owner of Dickey Farms. “Most of the damage was done kind of early in the season to the early May crop, but we have peaches all along. So, you know, in terms of kind of local peaches, they’ll still be peaches but in terms of, you know, shipping to major grocery chains and this kind of thing, it’s just going to be very slim.”

While temperatures have been colder in previous years, this is the worst damage growers have seen in quite some time due mainly to the freeze showing up at the worst possible moment.

“You know, the stage the peaches were at this year when the freeze came, that’s really what caused most of the damage. We had peaches this big in some varieties, and once they are past that bloom stage, past the shuck split, they’re very, very susceptible to damage. Any light frost uh, can really harm the peaches there,” says Dickey.

And just like that, growers see a year’s worth of planning, pruning and patience take a major hit, which leaves them with plenty of frustration.

“Yeah, it’s very disappointing, very disappointing. We were hoping for a great season this year, looking forward to picking a lot of peaches. So, you get all the way there, right? You’re not quite to harvest, but you’ve done a lot of work and so, it’s certainly disappointing in terms of not having the fruit you hoped for,” says Dickey.

However, the silver lining is the peaches that do make it onto the shelves will have the same kind of quality consumers have grown to expect.

“Right now, peaches look good. They’re growing,” says Dickey. “I think they might be a little bit early this year, so, I mean, that’s one thing we’re watching now and being able to communicate with people and buyers is timing, but overall, peaches look healthy, look good. The trees look great. It’s just not many on there.”

That will obviously have an impact on the market as demand for sweet, Georgia peaches is unlikely to fall, while the supply will be severely limited. That means shopper might have to pay a little more this year to enjoy Georgia’s signature fruit.

“Prices are going to be higher this year just based on limited quantities and just the short crop, but we’ll have peaches in our market all season long. We just won’t be shipping out and packing as many peaches as we normally do,” says Dickey.

By: Damon Jones

Georgia Peaches Impacted by Late Cold Snap

Posted on by

Griffin, GA

While California might be the largest producer, no other state in the country is more synonymous with peaches than Georgia. However, it’s been a trying year for growers as a late freeze has caused some of the worst conditions in more than a decade.

“The thing that made this one a little bit rougher than last year was that we were about ten days earlier in our bloom, in our status if the crop,” says Jeff Cook, UGA County Extension Coordinator. “The warm February pushed everything to start blooming and start moving a whole lot earlier than normal.”

It’s a problem farmers had to deal with last year as well, but to a much lesser extent.

“I would say last year we had about a sixty percent crop, which was a good sixty percent once it developed. This year, I would say it kind of flip flopped. We’re probably looking at forty percent and it’s still a little early, but the damage is a lot easier to see riding through orchards right now than it was last year,” says Cook.

One of the silver linings is that quality shouldn’t be affected as despite the warmer that average winter, the crop did receive the proper number of chill hours and the damaged fruit won’t even make it to the shelves.

“It shouldn’t because what got zapped, got zapped. So, it won’t be in the market. It wasn’t like it was slightly damaged and you’ll have some fruit quality issues. The fruit that’s left, if we have decent weather from here on out should be good, quality fruit,” says Cook. “We were a little bit short on some of our higher chill varieties; we were right around seven hundred fifty hours of chill if you look at just chill hours, not chill proportions, or units. So, we were just a little bit under chilled on some things, but most everything was coming out normally. Some are a little slower, but for the most part it, it satisfied what we have in middle Georgia.”

That does mean consumers might have to wait a little longer to buy sweet, Georgia peaches and pay a little more for them.

“I mean, it’s really fewer peaches across the Southeast, probably. It’s just going to mean higher prices probably and it’s going to mean you’re going to have to wait a little while longer to get peaches. When I was in Brooks County, they should be harvesting pretty soon. So, you know, you may have to drive south to go get your early peaches if you want some early peaches. Hopefully we can hang on and have late June or early July peaches still in Georgia,” says Cook.

With late freezes being a constant threat to the producers, UGA is working on some alternative growing methods to mitigate some of the risk.

“We might do a few things a little bit differently, trying to minimize any mid-March freezes,” says Cook. “We’ve been working on different things and some different production practices that help mitigate that; leave more limbs, leave more flowers, more fruit. Maybe even pruning a little later, but they’ll just continue; we’ll take care of the trees from here on out and take care of the crop we have left.

By: Damon Jones

Cold Winter Great for Georgia Peaches

Posted on by
Reply

 

MUSELLA, GA – Here in the Peach State, peach producers are relaxing a little now that we’ve had a pretty cold winter.

The past couple of years have not been great ones after warmer temperatures ruined the tree’s chill hours. According to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, last year, due to the warm weather, seventy percent of the peach crop in the state was wiped out. The winter season isn’t over just yet, but growers are optimistic about this upcoming season.

 

 

Lee Dickey, who works at Dickey Farms says, “last year was drastic in terms of cold hours and production. It was about an eighty percent loss or about twenty percent of our crop last year, so it was pretty dramatic, so this year certainly feels good. Hours have tracked to historic norms and just kind of really what you like to see in terms of chill, cold weather, and even got a little snow.”

Chill hours are the amount of time the peach trees need to be dormant in order for the new buds on the trees to be ready to start producing. Chill hours are counted when the temperature drops below forty-five degrees Fahrenheit and are critical for a successful crop.

Jeff Cook, Extension agent for Crawford County said, “Once they reach that, there are certain enzymes in the bud that actually switch over and say, ok, we’re going from dormant to now we’ve gotten our chill requirement and we’re going to switch over and start pushing and start vegetative and flower growth.”

So far, the trees have gotten a significant number of chill hours. Different varieties of trees require different number of chill hours, but here in the central region of the state, the tree’s hours have been reached.

“In Middle Georgia, right here, where the majority of the peaches that are shipped are grown, we range from six hundred and fifty hours up to eight hundred and fifty hours,” says Cook.

This time last year, they had only gotten less than half of the chill hours that they have now.

Cook says, “last year, we were at the same time right now that we’re talking, we were less than five hundred hours. At 500 hours, we were 150 short of our lowest chill varieties.”

Chill hours are counted from October 1 through February 15. They have gotten well over the number of chill hours needed but Cook told me it wouldn’t be a bad thing if it stayed cold a little longer.

“We also like for, after February 15, it’s really nice if it can stay cool. We don’t want it to be freezing cold, and we don’t want any freezes or frosts, but if it can stay cool on through bloom, that also helps with quality,” says Cook.

The harvest time is still a couple of months away, and even though they don’t have to worry about chill hours anymore, they do have some other concerns, like the possibility of a late frost like they had last March.

“Generally, around mid-May is kind of when we anticipate harvest. The Spring weather can certainly affect that,” says Dickey.

Cook says, “we usually see a little bit of injury, especially our earlier blooming varieties from some freezes, but usually we’re leaving enough free wood, and enough blooms that we kind of guard against that and some insurance against some injury. You’ll have a little variation in the stage of development in that flower along each stem too, so you have some that are more far along than other flowers, so we kind of hedge against that by leaving more flowers on there and free wood.”

By: John Holcomb