Slim pickings: Peach crop wiped out across much of Georgia

[cigaretteman]

Jim Markley’s 1,300 peach trees are usually so laden with fruit this time of year his workers take a Wiffle bat to the branches to thin out the crop, leaving thousands of tiny unripe peaches littering the ground.

This year, driving a golf cart through the rows of trees, he finds a single pale yellow fruit.




“This is the first time ever we’ve lost the entire crop,” said Markley, the owner of CJ Orchards in Rutledge, Georgia, about an hour east of downtown Atlanta.

Peach farmers across Middle Georgia say their crop has been all but wiped out by an unusually warm winter, which caused fruit development earlier than normal, followed by a brutal cold snap in March that killed the nascent buds.






Apart from a few days of freezing temperatures, January through March was the hottest such period on record in Georgia, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Temperatures statewide averaged 56.4 degrees, more than 6 degrees warmer than the 20th century norm.

Georgia is no longer the country’s top peach-producer, having been surpassed long ago by California. But Georgia’s Peach State label remains, even as a warming climate has made growing peaches and some other fruit here more difficult.

Slim pickings: Peach crop wiped out across much of Georgia

An unusually warm winter followed by a brutal cold snap in March have killed much of the crop

www.chicagotribune.com

 

[TheCainer]

Jim Markley’s 1,300 peach trees are usually so laden with fruit this time of year his workers take a Wiffle bat to the branches to thin out the crop, leaving thousands of tiny unripe peaches littering the ground.

This year, driving a golf cart through the rows of trees, he finds a single pale yellow fruit.




“This is the first time ever we’ve lost the entire crop,” said Markley, the owner of CJ Orchards in Rutledge, Georgia, about an hour east of downtown Atlanta.

Peach farmers across Middle Georgia say their crop has been all but wiped out by an unusually warm winter, which caused fruit development earlier than normal, followed by a brutal cold snap in March that killed the nascent buds.






Apart from a few days of freezing temperatures, January through March was the hottest such period on record in Georgia, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Temperatures statewide averaged 56.4 degrees, more than 6 degrees warmer than the 20th century norm.

Georgia is no longer the country’s top peach-producer, having been surpassed long ago by California. But Georgia’s Peach State label remains, even as a warming climate has made growing peaches and some other fruit here more difficult.

Slim pickings: Peach crop wiped out across much of Georgia

An unusually warm winter followed by a brutal cold snap in March have killed much of the crop

www.chicagotribune.com

Well, on a positive note, it sounds like they won't be needing as many "illegals" this year. Of course that will take a bite out of DeSantis's and Abbot's political shenanigans.

In Middle Georgia, home to the state’s largest peach farms, the effects of the poor crop are expected to ripple through the local economy.


Lawton Pearson, a fifth-generation peach farmer and partner at Pearson Farm near Fort Valley, said in a good year, his farm employs as many as 250 local and seasonal workers combined to help with the harvest. But this year, after 95% of his crop was destroyed, he will only need about 40.

Other large farms draw hundreds more to the area. Without that influx of people, he expects local restaurants and other businesses could suffer.

Pearson estimates farms around Fort Valley normally draw up to 700 workers a year, adding, “For a town of 8,000, it’s kind of a big deal to not have those people spending money in town.”

Lane Southern Orchards, another large producer near Fort Valley, usually employs about 350 seasonal workers, but this year they are down to about 80, said CEO Mark Sanchez.

 

[DooBi]

Hope I can still get my peach Busch light!!

 

[JRHawk2003]

I bet they have been donating Republican for some time...they are getting a return on their investment

 

[ping72]

I’m further north, but my normally productive peach trees look like garbage this year and have hardly any fruit.