Milder winters make peach growing unpredictable

Even in the dead of winter, York County peach growers have a sense of pride.

“South Carolina actually grows more peaches than Georgia and we grow the best peaches,“ Jene Therrell, the Marketing Director of Springs Farm said.

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In January, while the orchards look bare, Therrell said the trees are doing important work, resting.

“They needs a certain amount of hours to kind of reset their clock if you will so they can produce enough fruit,” she said.

Trees perform this “reset” by accumulating chill hours or time between 32°F and 45°F. Most peach species need about 500 to 600 a year.

If a winter is too warm for an orchard to accumulate enough hours, the entire harvest could be out of sync.

“Its internal clock will just be thrown off because it will think it’s a different time of the year,” Therrell said. “We can even see things like producing smaller fruits.”

According to analysis from Climate Central, winters are the fastest warming season across the world. In Charlotte, winters are about 4 degrees warmer on average, compared to 1970.

As for this year’s peach crop, Therrell said the cool start to December was enough to make up for the recent warm spell.

The peaches are on track to meet the high 500 close to 600 hour target despite 60 or even 70 degree days as long as we continue to get cooler nights.

“We still have all of January and we include all of February in that as well so we’re right on track,” she said.

Once the trees accumulate those chill hours, there’s another challenge, which is timing the bloom against the last frost of the season.

“We’ve had blooms as early as February before, and that can be really tricky,” Therrell said.

Too many warm days ahead of spring could trick trees into blooming early, making them vulnerable to March frosts.

Therrell said Springs Farm lost an entire crop to a February bloom followed by a prolonged frost.

“Which is really hard because all of that is outside of our control,” she said.

For the rest of the winter, Therrell said she’s hoping for more seasonable weather, because chilly days bring juicy peaches.

“When it’s cold and I don’t want to wear my jacket and get in my cold car,” she said. “It’s helping the peaches.”

VIDEO: Warmer, drier winter expected in Carolinas due to La Niña

Warmer, drier winter expected in Carolinas due to La Niña

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