By Clint Thompson It is that time of the year when peach producers and industry leaders are keeping tabs on chilling hours. Peaches need chill hours to mature properly. Growers can largely gauge the success of the following season on how many chill hours their crop receives over the winter. According to Edgar Vinson, assistant research professor and Extension specialist …
Drought’s Impact on Peach Trees in the Fall
By Clint Thompson Zero to minimal rainfall across Georgia over the past month should prompt the state’s peach producers to implement an essential management strategy. Though peach season has come and gone and with the trees nearing dormancy, growers must consider their trees’ water needs amid the current drought. Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agriculture and natural resources …
Alabama Extension Agent Provides Peach Update
By Clint Thompson Peach season has come and gone for Alabama producers. For those growers located in the central part of the state, it was an average year, says David Lawrence, regional Extension agent in central Alabama. He alluded to multiple external factors that could have impacted the region’s fruit this year. “It was okay. It was average; to some …
North Georgia Peach Producer: Production, Demand High This Year
By Clint Thompson Georgia peach production has been strong this season. One North Georgia producer is still enjoying the fruits of his labor. Drew Echols, owner of Jaemor Farms in Alto, Georgia, and past president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA), estimated on July 22 that production would continue for another month to six weeks. That is …
Alabama Peaches Not Yielding Like Expected This Year
By Clint Thompson Alabama’s peach crop this year was on par with the 2024 crop up until harvest season. Harvests did not finish that way, however, according to Edgar Vinson, assistant research professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Auburn University. He discussed this year’s yields as harvest season continues for producers. “It was kind of a …
Georgia Peach Season Nearing End
By Clint Thompson Georgia peach producers are nearing an end to this year’s harvest season. They are expected to conclude harvesting this year’s crop in early August, says Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Peach and Taylor counties. Cook discussed this season’s production which has been strong despite persistent rains and numerous bouts …
Bacterial Spot Prevalent in Susceptible Peach Varieties
By Clint Thompson Persistent rainfall has led to certain diseases being more prevalent in peaches in the Southeast this year. Phil Brannen, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension fruit disease specialist, emphasized that bacterial spot has been most concerning, especially in susceptible varieties. “We’ve had more bacterial spot on varieties that are susceptible to it than we’d like to see,” Brannen …
N.C. Peach Season Arrives Ahead of Schedule
RALEIGH – North Carolina’s (N.C.) peach season is arriving a bit earlier than expected this year, with growers across the state beginning to harvest a bumper crop of high-quality fruit. A stretch of warmer-than-average temperatures has advanced the growing timeline, making fresh peaches available to consumers ahead of their normal mid-July peak. “This run of hot days means peaches are …
Specialty Crop Grower Magazine: Perfecting Peach Thinning is a Work in Progress
By Frank Giles There’s a fine line between thinning peaches to produce good marketable-sized fruit and thinning too aggressively which results in reduced yield. Growers and researchers have been working to perfect the practice for many years. Among those researchers are Juan Carlos Melgar, Clemson associate professor of pomology, and Greg Reighard, Clemson professor emeritus of horticulture. Their research has …
Specialty Crop Grower Magazine: High-Density Orchards the Future of Florida Peach Production
By Clint Thompson The future of Florida’s peach industry potentially rests on results generated from research at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). With labor expenses at an all-time high and showing no signs of slowing, Florida’s peach growers need a more efficient way to produce a crop that is heavily reliant on manual labor. …















