Freeze May Have Cut Texas Peach Crop By Three-Fourths
College Station, TX
By Eric Anderson
4.18.13
Unseasonably warm weather punctuated by late freezes may have cut potential peach yields by three-fourths or more in Texas’ major production areas, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulturalist Dr. Larry Stein.
“We’ve definitely had some damage,” Stein said. “A lot of fruit has been lost, but there are still some peaches around.”“At the best sites, (on higher ground) the cold air drained away, and in a lot of those instances there are a few peaches scattered around,” Stein said. “And it was also variety driven. Certain varieties — Redglobe was one — seemed to fare better than others.”
Estimating the extent of the damage is difficult as there are so many large and small growers producing different varieties on various kinds of sites, he noted, as reported by Agrilife Today.
On a positive note, the remaining crop should be large and of good flavor due to Mother Nature’s pruning.
“And because we may be going into a droughty time, maybe having a short crop during a drought will be a silver lining as the trees won’t be as stressed.”
Not all peach-growing areas took a hit, Stein noted. For instance, East Texas orchards escaped largely unscathed.
“It just depended upon where that cold air settled,” he said.
