US (NJ): Farmers' hot start yields bumper crop
Now, at orchards across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, peaches are being harvested a full two to three weeks ahead of schedule.
"People are excited about everything being early," said Eric Johnson, co-owner of Johnson's Corner Farm in Medford, where the harvest began Saturday. "Typically, we'd begin picking in the third week of June."
Not this year, not after the warmest first four months since the start of official temperature records in 1874.
Peaches are shipping to area grocery stores, farm markets, and roadside stands. Other crops, including strawberries, apricots and blueberries, also have come in weeks early.
The blueberry harvest began at least 10 days sooner than normal, New Jersey officials said. About 95 percent of the state's blueberry acreage is in Burlington and Atlantic Counties.
In the Midwest, upper Midwest, New England, and Ontario, peach blossoms appeared in March, but many were later damaged by frost.
"They were blooming in Michigan, which is unheard of," said Jerry Frecon, agricultural agent with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension and director of Frecon Farms in Boyertown, Pa. "We were just lucky. The mid-Atlantic area has a good crop of fruit.
“What happens in Jersey happens in Pennsylvania," he added. "We're a tad bit earlier" in Jersey.
New Jersey is fourth for peach production in the nation, after California, South Carolina, and Georgia. Pennsylvania is fifth.
"Things are moving along and looking wonderful," said Johnson, who has finished harvesting strawberries and is picking peaches, blueberries, and cherries this week.
At Holtzhauser Farm in Mullica Hill, apricots will be brought in starting Friday or Saturday, followed by the peaches on Monday or Tuesday.
"We had to react quicker this year than normal," said farmer Tom Holtzhauser.
"We bloomed on March 23," he said. "That's 3½ weeks early for me."
Holtzhauser's family has owned the farm since 1831 and has had peaches since 1897. Thirty-four varieties are grown there on 144 acres.
"I've been working on the farm for 36 years, since I was 13," he said. "I've only seen peaches bloom one other time in March and still actually make a crop."
Is the early season good for New Jersey's 92 peach growers?
"I would say yes, particularly for people who sell locally and direct to consumers because it helps their cash flow," Frecon said. "It helps their roadside markets open early and creates a flow of customers."
Nature's stepped-up schedule does create some challenges.
"It changes the whole management program," Frecon said. "You could see more disease and insect pressure because of the mild winter."
In a normal year, most varieties of peaches would be picked by mid-September. "This year," Frecon said, "it could be early September, and the later varieties could be pressured by insects and disease."
The Rutgers Cooperative Extension monitors these problems and "can tell [farmers] when to spray, when to utilize pest management practices," Frecon said.
Acreage devoted to peaches has declined in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and across the country in recent years because many intermediate-size growers have dropped the crop.
"It's too difficult to sell to supermarkets," Frecon said. "They request stringent food safety programs, inventory management in the store, multi-store delivery, labeling, bar codes, and specific packaging.
Source: www.philly.com