Mar 29, 2016

Georgia Peach Council anticipates best crop in recent years

The Georgia Peach Council (GPC) announced it expects the 2016 peach season to be outstanding. Having just rounded the spring chill successfully, this year’s Georgia peach crop is shaping up to be sweeter than Peach County has seen in years, GPC said.

“Our tree’s quest to accumulate cold hours got off to a slow start in December but Mother Nature provided just what we needed with a very cold January and February,” said Kent Hoots, grower coordinator of the GPC. “Just like the feeling you have after a good night’s sleep, our trees received the right amount of cold hours to be rested and ready to thrive. Plenty of ‘beauty rest’, combined with expected searing hot summertime temperatures, has put the Summer of 2016 on notice as an anticipated sweet and flavorful Georgia Peach season to remember.”

Georgia Peaches will be harvested in time for Memorial Day and running all the way through the end of summer.

“Every year we wait for all of the elements that go into growing flavor-filled peaches to be in sync and the stars have aligned this year – 2016 is setting up to be the best crop peach growers in Georgia have seen in years,” notes Duke Lane III, president of the GPC.

Roughly 10,000 acres of Georgia Peach farms stretch across the famously-known Fort Valley plateau. Ninety percent of Georgia Peaches are grown in this region, according to GPC. Consistent temperatures, mineral-rich red clay soils and high humidity are perfect ingredients for super-sweet peaches, GPC said. With more than 140 years of farming Georgia Peaches, the land itself has helped Georgia earn the title the “Peach State”.

“Our families have been blessed with the opportunity to grow our peaches in Fort Valley,” Will McGehee, director of marketing of the GPC, said. “While it is the perfect place to grow, there is still an art to growing the best peaches – our families have been growing Georgia Peaches for five generations and passing down techniques they have mastered – it’s all about the flavor and freshness.”

Each year, the state produces more than 80 million pounds of the fruit between mid-May and mid-August, GPC said. For more information, visit the Georgia Peach Council website.