By Clint Thompson
Farmers are a resilient group of individuals. They have to be to get back up off the mat following one challenging blow after another.
For Georgia’s peach growers, they will need to be if they hope to survive a devastating ’23 season.
Chris Butts, executive vice president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA), discussed the outlook that peach producers have following a year in which they lost between 95% and 98% of their crop.
“I think they’re all optimists by trade, and so they’re looking forward to the next season and what they need to be doing now in order to prepare for that,” Butts said. “When you take $120 million out of that agricultural economy, and to many of these guys represents almost a complete loss, you’ve got to work at keeping your head up.”
The mid-March freeze devastated peach blooms that were blooming earlier than usual with the warm February temperatures. Combined with a lack of chilling hours for some varieties, Georgia’s producers suffered a demoralizing defeat.