Peach supply threat in several states could send prices skyrocketing as farmers report $300 million worth of losses

Peach supply threat in several states could send prices skyrocketing as farmers report 0 million worth of losses

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Peach prices may increase after harsh weather caused millions worth of fruit crop losses in New Jersey and Texas.

In late April, a rare freeze destroyed peach harvests in the Northeast, causing an estimated $300 million loss of crops, according to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.

The freeze prompted New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill to declare a state of emergency and request federal disaster assistance.

According to the governor, the freeze hit the crops during a crucial stage of their development, severely hurting the peach blossoms and young fruit.

“New Jersey’s agricultural sector is a vital engine of our economy; it is the very reason we bear the name the Garden State. The April freeze caused serious damage to our growers, and those losses demand decisive action,” she said in a statement.

Farmers in New Jersey, Texas, and across the South lost their peach crops due to weather issues, causing millions in losses to regional growers and spiking prices for the fruit (Getty)

She added that the state’s “farming families are hurting, and I won’t stand by and let it happen.”

One grower, Tannwen Mount, who owns Terhune Orchards in Princeton, told Fox News that she and her family had never seen such a devastating loss.

“It was really a catastrophic loss for our whole region, not just here at Terhune Orchards,” she said.

Another peach farmer, Tom Holtzhauser of Holtzhauser Farms in Mullica Hill, told ABC 6 that his trees are completely fruitless.

“There should be peaches up and down on these limbs. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds,” he said. “You put your faith in Mother Nature and think that they’re going to take care of you every year. These are years that sometimes she gives you a whippin’.”

Further south, Texas farmers are dealing with their own peach problems.

This year’s “chill hours” — which are the number of winter hours in which temperatures remain below 45 degrees Fahrenheit — dropped far below average, according to Tim Hartmann, assistant professor at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

He told WFAA that temperate fruit crops, like peaches, need the chill hours, as they allow the fruit to go dormant and survive the winter.

“If you don’t get enough sleep, you’re likely to oversleep and will not function at your highest capacity,” he told the broadcaster. “In the same way, trees that don’t reach the required chill hours will bud late and not be productive.”

Joe Mitcham, owner of Mitcham Farms in Ruston, Louisiana, dealt with freeze issues in March.

He told the Lincoln Parish Journal that a late March freeze destroyed nearly all of his harvest this year.

“We may have a peach or two, but not enough to justify the work to process them,” he told the publication.

He said there had been similar losses at peach farms across the South and anticipated that prices would likely remain high as a result.

“Growers lost their crops all across the South,” Mitcham said. “So they’re very expensive when you can find them.”

California’s peach supply also took a hit this year, but it wasn’t weather that caused the loss — it was the market.

Farmers in California will likely have to destroy approximately 420,000 clingstone peach trees due to the shuttering of Del Monte canneries. Without Del Monte to buy their peaches, the farmers have no one to purchase their crops.

Del Monte announced the closure in April after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July.