Hail, Freeze Hammers Texas Peach Crop
May 23, 2013 Freeze events in March and April, followed by a severe hailstorm have reduced peach production in Texas. Here is a roundup of local news reports about the damage.
Peach growers in Gillespe County, TX, are experiencing a 90% crop loss following hailstorms and freezing temperatures in March and April, reports the Austin American-Statesman.
“The damage is pretty widespread,” Jamey Vogel, owner of Vogel Orchard in Stonewall and president of the Hill Country Fruit Council, told the newspaper.
According to the article, the peach industry in Gillespe County is responsible for 40% of the state’s 23-million pound, $33-million dollar production.
Dianne Eckhardt, a third generation peach grower at Donald Eckhardt Orchards in Fredericksburg, TX, told KVUE, “you really have to search to see, but every once in a while you’ll see one peach. As a child we were hauling peaches all day long in the summertime.”
In April, Larry Stein, AgriLife Extension horticulturist in Uvalde, TX, said that peach yields in major production areas were reduced by three-fourths, following freeze events.
“We all hesitate to put that number out there, but I’d say the amount of crop we have (left) is about 20% to 25%,” Stein said. “We’ve definitely had some damage. A lot of fruit has been lost, but there are still some peaches around.”
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