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 certainly an ideal scenario considering how the harvest season has transpired so far.
“We normally go at least until Labor Day. We have gone past Labor Day. I suspect this year will be right around Labor Day,” Echols said. “We’ve had it good from the early varieties, and these mid-to-late varieties have been really, really nice. We haven’t really had any small peaches. We’ve had good size fruit the whole time. It’s hard to complain.”
It is one thing to produce a crop that is high in quality and quantity, but it’s another to be able to sell peaches at a high rate. That has not been a problem this season, explains Echols.
“They seem to be in pretty high demand. We’re about 60% retail and 40% wholesale. I just think everybody has done a good job of marketing, and the demand is high,” Echols said. “I haven’t really heard of anybody losing peaches this year. To me, that’s the brightest spot out of the whole deal is that demand is high.”