Freeze Hits Peach Farmers- Festival Goes On-Patrick County, VA
July 16, 2007
A spoiled peach crop in Patrick County will hit growers’ pocketbooks but should have little impact on the annual Virginia Peach Festival there in August.
Pictured is Mr. Darrell Worley of W& W Produce, Stuart, VA
Source: Martinsville Bulletin
Monday, July 16, 2007
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Darryl Worley, a grower and owner of W&W Produce in Stuart, blamed April temperatures, which fell into the teens, with destroying his peach crop.
“There are none at all,� he said, estimating his losses at $60,000 to $75,000.
When the cold temperatures hit last spring, each peach was “about the size of a pencil eraser,� Worley said. But the 18-degree temperatures “got ’em all,� and Worley is trucking peaches in from South Carolina and Georgia to sell to customers now.
Areas to the north, including Pennsylvania, also are expected to reap a harvest, Worley said, “but we were right in that slot which bears the imprint of the dipping temperatures.�
John Wood of Wood’s Cold Storage in Woolwine said his peach crop also was decimated by the cold temperatures.
“We have no peaches. ... There will be a few apples, though,� Wood said.
But even they will be few and far between.
Wood estimated that he has 10 percent or less of a normal apple crop.
In the orchard, “you might see one (apple) tree that’s got right many apples on it, and right beside it, you’ll see a dozen trees with no apples,� Wood said. “It’s real hit and miss on the apples, but as far as the peaches go, we’re zero.�
Peach prices this year will be about double last year’s cost, Worley said.
Last year, a half-bushel of peaches sold for about $10 or $12. This year, that will jump to $25 for the same amount, Worley said.
The price increase also reflects rising fuel, transportation and other costs, he said.
Despite growers’ losses, the annual Peach Festival, slated for Aug. 6-11, will go on as planned.
“We’ll have peaches� for that event, Worley vowed.
Tom Bishop, executive director of the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the festival, said, “The peach festival is a go. We know there’s not going to be a peach harvest� but that will affect few, if any, of the activities planned during the festival.
And, as in years past, “we’ll have peach cobbler, peach ice cream and peach flavored drinks,� Bishop said.
Although his peach crop was destroyed, Worley said some of his apples survived the cold snap, including Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, Stamen and Red Winesaps. But the weather “killed just about every one of my Red Delicious� apples, he said.
Now, he is not sure if the remaining apples will grow to much size with the current dry conditions.
It is too early for Worley to predict the amount of his apple loss, but he expects it will be significant.
“Thirty years ago, I’d have balled (cried) my eyes out� with a crop similar to this year, Worley said.
Now at age 60, Worley has been in the business long enough to know “you get what you get.�
Still, he said, “I’d be better off if I got in a poker game. ... It would be better odds.�
Although Worley has tried to recoup some savings by cutting back on things such as spraying, “you can’t cut back too much or you’ll pay for it next year.�
He is concerned that the wasted crop will put some growers out of business.
“There’s a lot of time and labor involved,� Worley said. “And it don’t take much in the way of failed crops until you’ve had enough.�
