Peach growers in Southeast Missouri and Southwest Illinois reported severe damage to their 2023 harvests caused by sub-freezing temperatures in December and late frosts in March and April.
The National Weather Service website reports that the temperature on Dec. 23 in Cape Girardeau dropped to 5 below zero.
Bill Beggs, owner of Pioneer Orchards in Cape Girardeau, said the extreme cold killed a majority of the buds on his peach trees.
"We're probably left with 20% of our crop," Beggs said. "It's going to be a very short peach season."
Vendors at the West Park Mall farmers market reported similar losses. Jeanne Brumleve, owner of Brumleve Farms in Cobden Illinois, was the only vendor selling peaches at the market Thursday, June 22. She said she and her husband, Dan, lost 70% of their peach crop due to the cold weather. Another vendor, Levi Lingle of Lingle Farms also in Cobden, said he lost all but 1% of his peach crop.
Donna Aufdenberg, a field specialist in horticulture at the University of Missouri Cooperative Extension Service in Cape Girardeau County, said she has talked to peach growers in Southeast Missouri facing the same situation. She noted that warmer fall seasons can also have a negative effect.
"Missouri weather is notorious for staying warm way into November, and that might be great for us as people, but it's not so great when we talk about plants that need to really shut down and be hardening off and going dormant so then we run into problems with severe temperature drops in the winter," Aufdenberg said.
However, not every orchard in the state was affected by the extreme cold. Bruce Arnett, owner of The Peachtree Farm near Columbia, in Central Missouri, said he didn't see the same freezing temperatures as other orchards and as a result had an above-average crop this year.
"I'm not trying to put a feather in my hat or anything," Arnett said. "We're on the bluffs of the Missouri River and high in elevation, and I think it helps a lot. I don't know why but we've always gotten crops when other people have been wiped out with weather. I'll just attribute it to God and let it go."
Beggs said his Red Haven, Glow Haven and Loring peaches didn't make it this year, and Brumleve said her orchard's Rich May and Flaming Fury varieties were lost.
Other peach growing states have reported poor crop yields as well but not because of cold weather. A June 7 Associated Press article stated Texas, Mississippi and Georgia all had one of their top five warmest winters on record this year, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. The article also stated that commercial peach farmers in Georgia lost as much as 95% of their yield.
Beggs and Brumleve both noted that it's not all bad news and they will have some peaches available this year.
"We have two main varieties that will have a nice crop," Beggs said. "The Contender variety, a high-quality yellow free-stone peach, should be ready mid-July, and later we're expecting a maximum crop of Encore peaches."
Brumleve said they have Red Garnett peaches available now, and later will be selling Contender, Crest Haven and White Lady varieties.
Beggs said he counts himself fortunate that the freezing temperatures didn't damage or kill many of his trees. He said he is seeing "good new growth for the coming season."
Brumleve said they were able to determine the extent of the damage to their peach crops early enough and were able to diversify. She said they planted more watermelon and cantaloupes to make up for the loss of peaches "so folks will still have some fresh fruit options available".
"If there is a plus to the peach crop being smaller, it's that the size of the peach's that did make it are significantly larger," Brumleve said. "Those peaches are sizing up well since there's not as many competing on the tree."
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