This year’s Georgia peach crop has had too little cold, too
little heat and too little
water. But University of
Georgia scientists and peach
farmers still expect the 1999 peach harvest to be the best since
the bumper crop in 1994.

“We’re looking at a pretty good crop,” said Kathryn
Taylor, a stone fruits horticulturist with the UGA College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “If everything
else goes well, we’re
expecting 75 percent to 85 percent of a full crop.”

Chill a concern

The lack of chill hours was a big concern, but growers
applied a compound called Dormex
that substituted for some chill hours.

In Fort Valley, scientists report they got only about two-
thirds of the chill hours
they needed for many varieties — about 770 hours versus 1,200
in a normal year. Taylor
said the trees set a good flower crop, but the leaves are
expanding slowly because of a
cool spring.

Dormex speeds up leaf emergence. Once the leaves emerge and
begin photosynthesizing,
the tree can provide the energy needed to support the
developing fruit.

Wild weather

But after the warm winter, Taylor said spring was
relatively cool in peach-growing
areas. “The cool spring kept the leaves from growing normally.
It has some of the
farmers holding their breath for the late-season
varieties.”

Farmer sees
difference

Al Pearson of Big 6 Farms in Peach County said he’s noticed
the trees look different.
“They sure don’t have the leaves they usually do,” he
said. “The tree
produces the fruit. But it takes the leaves to keep the
fruit.”

Peach County is in middle Georgia, where farmers produce
about 90 percent of Georgia’s
peach crop.

Pearson said he used Dormex on much of his orchard, but
hasn’t noticed any real
difference in most of the varieties. “We’re hoping to see a
difference later in the
year on the late varieties,” he said.

Add water woes

And on top of the too-warm, too-cool problems, Georgia is
about 7 inches short on
rainfall so far this year. “Our growers are busy irrigating
now to develop peaches of
good size for the market,” Taylor said.

Farmers are also making sure their orchards are clean —
that no extra weeds or grasses
take up water the trees need.

Johnny Whiddon, a UGA Extension Service agent in Brooks
County, said growers there
began picking peaches in the third week of April. “Our crop
looks good,” he
said. “But how we do the rest of the year will depend on the
rain we get.”

Brooks County is in the second-largest peach growing area
in the state, producing about
10 percent of the state’s crop. Georgia is the nation’s No. 3
peach-producing state with a
crop value of $35.2 million in 1997.

Compound helps, but nature most
important

Whiddon said most farmers in his county used Dormex on mid-
to late-season varieties.
Early maturing varieties have lower chill requirements and got
enough cold naturally.

“How well we do with Dormex is dependent on timing,”
Whiddon said. “So
we’re still waiting to see how those do. But it’s looking
good.”

Pearson said he and his neighboring growers will start
picking their peaches in mid- to
late May. South Georgia peaches are different varieties with
shorter chill requirements
and mature more quickly in the warmer climate.

“I’m still a little nervous — it’s still a long time until
the season’s
done,” Pearson said. “But overall, I’m real optimistic. I see
the possibility
for a good crop, probably the best since ’94 or ’97.”