Fleshing Out The State Of The Florida Peach
April 13, 2016 
Florida peach plantings are becoming a more common sight in Florida.
Photo by Frank Giles
Peaches are synonymous with Georgia and South Carolina, but Florida is looking to get in the game, making the crop a hot alternative in the state. The recent uptick in peach planting in Florida began around 2009, driven partly by the spread of HLB in citrus.
Dr. Mercy Olmstead, an Assistant Professor and Fruit Extension Specialist with UF/IFAS, has been advising growers on peach production in Florida. She says the crop comes with its challenges, but can be profitable if harvest hits the sweet spot market window that runs roughly from late March to mid-May.
Olmstead says estimates put peach planting in Florida at about 1,300 acres with the bulk of plantings in Central and South Florida. The National Ag Statistics Service currently does not track peach acres in Florida, so an exact figure is not known.
“A majority are citrus growers looking for a profitable alternative in the face of HLB,” Olmstead says. “But, some strawberry and blueberry growers also are planting trial acreage.”
As peaches blossom in Florida, growers are grappling with the unique production challenges in the state, finding new markets, and managing the labor requirements for the crop. But, Olmstead says peaches are here to stay and challenges can be addressed as more is learned about growing here.
Chilling Out
According to Olmstead, the biggest challenge for Florida peach growers has been achieving consistent fruit set and yield from year to year. Although some of the yield inconsistencies have been due to late-season frosts, much of it has been due to insufficient chilling units received during the most important months — late November and December. Peaches don’t set fruit well above 55ºF.
“We at the University of Florida are addressing these issues through both breeding and physiology programs,” she says. “Dr. Jose Chaparro, a UF/IFAS plant breeder, has a southern orchard in Ft. Pierce where he is examining potential cultivar selections that do well under high nighttime temperatures.”
Olmstead says they are addressing frost by conducting research on the critical temperatures at which buds freeze, particularly flower buds, to understand how cultivars react and differ from those in the northern locations.
“Our low-chill cultivars are very different from those that were used to determine critical bud temperatures,” she says. “We are working to find more precise information for growers to understand when buds are vulnerable to frost and temperature ranges.”
While chill hours are critical to fruit set and has been lacking some years, freeze protection is key for some peach varieties.
Photo courtesy of UF/IFAS
Outside The Comfort Zone
Ralph Chamberlain is among the earliest citrus growers to give peaches a try in Florida. He says it has made him a better grower.
“I love the diversity of growing peaches in Florida,” he says. “It pushes the boundaries of our comfort zone of just growing citrus. It has elevated me as a grower in learning new techniques and has made me a better farmer in my decision-making on a daily basis.
“Growing a peach not only involves the growing aspect, but also the marketing and shipping of the fruit. And you must be aware of each and every cost along the way.”
Chamberlain says labor, weather, and timing has been the biggest challenge on his farm. He adds the cost of growing a subtropical peach is so different than other North American peaches.
“Our growth is off the charts when compared to Georgia, South Carolina, and California,” he says. “We average 6 feet to 8 feet of vertical growth per season and it has to be trimmed and shaped into what will eventually become a producing tree. On top of that, we deal with more rainfall and how to combat related issues.”
The work begins in the fall when Chamberlain begins feeding the trees to pump them up before the expected dormancy before leaf drop, which is initiated by spraying zinc. This starts a four- to five-week clock before bloom. This hopefully happens during the coldest time in Florida — normally the first 15 days of January.
“This time period brings you some sleepless nights and gray hairs,” Chamberlain says. “The hope is during that time we achieve some chill hours (below 45ºF) to set a crop.
“This season with El Niño, the news stations were reporting 87ºF days during Christmas and how it was Chamber of Commerce weather. As a peach grower, I was grumbling because no chill hours were being made.”
The warm weather allowed only one of Chamberlain’s peach varieties (UFSun 80% to 100% fruit set) to set fruit, while two others (UFBest 10% to 30%; TropicBeauty 0% to 5% fruit set) lost blooms off the trees. Beyond El Niño, this has made for some challenges in that some varieties and orchards are not returning on investment
“One example is, after 10 years, I have grown six to seven different varieties in Charlotte County, and I can say without doubt in my southern region nothing has been more dependable than UFSun. The unfortunate item is we have acres of other varieties in the ground that are not returning on the investment, so how do we recoup our losses or find the revenue to push non-productive orchards and replant?”
Getting Organized
An important consideration in the future success of peaches in Florida will be developing markets and demand for the crop. The good news is the subtropical varieties developed by UF/IFAS are sweet and tasty. There are some issues with smaller-size fruit, but growers are getting better in their production and thinning practices to grow larger fruit.
But, how will what is still a small-acreage and disparate group of growers get the word out about Florida peaches? Last year, an effort was launched to create a peach marketing order, which would have been administered by the Florida Department of Agriculture And Consumer Services. The order failed to receive the 65% vote “yes” from growers in order to move forward.
Photo by Frank Giles
“The biggest marketing opportunities for Florida peaches will be to fill a niche from large growers with big volume stores and smaller growers at farmers’ markets and stands,” Olmstead says.
In March, Mulberry-based Sizemore Farms announced a partnership with South Carolina-based Titan Farms to market peaches beginning in Florida in early April. It will allow Titan to begin its season five weeks earlier.
“We are elated to be working with Titan Farms’ respected quality operations,” John Sizemore, a principal at Sizemore Farms, says. “We’ve been growing peaches for years and are ready to take our Florida-grown peach business to the next level.”
In effort to get a better handle on consumer perception of Florida peaches and how growers market their peaches, the UF/IFAS Center For Public Issues Education has started a survey project to get a better picture on how to market Florida peaches to the public.
“We hope to have a better understanding of consumers’ perceptions of and barriers to buying Florida peaches,” says Joy Rumble, an Associate Professor with UF/IFAS. “Additionally, we will assess consumers’ current overall awareness of, nutritional knowledge of, access to, knowledge of availability, and preference for Florida-grown peaches. We also will explore current marketing and communication practices of Florida peach growers. The information from the consumers and the producers will then be combined to inform a marketing plan for the Florida peach industry.”
The survey process and analysis will occur over this summer and fall.
Chamberlain adds growing and marketing efforts should target the small window of time where Florida growers can cash in the most.
“What I learned soon after starting to grow peaches is we have this incredible niche market (roughly March 25-May 17) that comes after Chilean peaches and before Georgia starts up,” he says. “In our effort to expand our little industry, we have lost the foresight that this is a niche market.
“We cannot compete with other markets if we come in too early or too late. We need to understand that, if we are going to make the investment work, it’s only for a 6 to 8 week time period. Any sooner or later is painful — believe me I’ve been there.”
Getting Started
Olmstead recommends growers start small if they want to give peaches a try in Florida.
“Start with a small number of trees — perhaps an acre — to see how much labor and effort is involved with growing peaches,” she says. “For those that have not worked with high-maintenance crops, a trial orchard is key for training the labor force and scaling up once a market is identified for the crop.
“In addition, don’t be hesitant to try new cultivars with lower chill units as long as you have good frost protection. We at UF are in this for the long haul and are ready to find solutions for our environmental challenges.”
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