Area peach crops fare better this year

SIKESTON, Mo. — You might find an empty peach stand at Dogwood Orchard.

Not because there aren't any growing, like last year, but because co-owner Mike Leible can't keep them coming quickly enough.

"Demand has been high. We've been selling out every afternoon," he said.

Leible said the high demand may be because everyone's freezer supplies were used up after last year's disappointing crop.

While last year many area orchards suffered the loss of fruit crops because of a mixture of warm then freezing cold temperatures, this year's crops had much better luck.

"The quality is superb," Leible said.

Dogwood Orchard also grows four types of nectarines and will have plums in the years to come, Leible said.

Janet Johns, co-owner of Cates Orchard near Dudley, Mo., has a large demand for peaches as well.

"People were sure ready for them," she said.

Johns said they have a good crop, although it isn't quite full. She said there were plenty of peaches and apples, but apricots did not fare so well. But she is glad nonetheless.

"Anything's going to be better than last year," she said.

Cates Orchard has 40 to 45 varieties of peaches that are picked from the middle of June to the end of September.

Anthony Ohmes, regional agronomy specialist for the University of Missouri Extension, said he hasn't heard any complaints about this summer's crops. He said that while there were a couple of nights of cold temperatures that influenced some varieties' pollination, that didn't create too many problems.

"Other than that everything else was good," he said. "June apples fared real well and peaches are coming off real nice."

Ohmes also noted that with wetter weather there are higher incidents of fruit diseases, but most commercial orchard owners easily take care of that.