US (GA): Peach crop producing ‘flavorful’ fruit
Peaches need a certain amount of cold weather as the trees move in and out of dormancy. The amount of cold they need is called “chill hours” -- the number of hours below 45 degrees the tree receives. This year, peach trees got the average number of chill hours needed, Dario Chavez, a University of Georgia scientist, said in a May report by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Duke Lane III, director of sales for Lane Southern Orchards in Peach County, said its operation lost 30 percent to 40 percent of its peach crop from that pre-Easter cold snap. Temperatures that dropped into the mid-20s ended up damaging the buds.
“It was a pretty significant loss,” Lane said. “But it’s not a total loss. We’ve got 60 (percent) to 70 percent of a crop, so we’ll have peaches all summer.”
Even though the cold weather caused some of the early peach varieties to be a little on the small size, Lane said, the size is improving. And the dryness actually can make the peaches taste better.
“The dry weather has made for some really good eating, flavorful peaches,” Lane said.
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