According to Raghela Scavuzzo from the Illinois Specialty Growers Association, a late season freeze killed off many peach blooms in the state: “Some farms are reporting 50% yields, some are reporting total losses. What we are seeing a lot of is you might not have a variety this week or that week because some varieties did better.”
She says larger peach producing states like South Carolina and Georgia faced the same problem, but while production fell, the peaches that did survive are high quality. Looking at other specialty crops, Scavuzzo says weather has been favorable for a hearty apple season this fall and she expects production to be higher than the past two years.
She says it is too soon to tell how pumpkins will fare, but drought during planting and disease pressure from recent rains could have an impact on overall production as well.
Source: brownfieldagnews.com
