Rasberry said the lack of crop insurance for pecans and the absence of uniform crop insurance statewide in other fruit crops adds to the challenges for growers. About a third of the state's peaches were lost to cold temperatures earlier this spring. The wet spring could cause problems later this summer when hot, dry conditions begin challenging shallow root systems. E.B. Rogers said a late freeze wiped out half of his trees' potential crop for the second year in a row. I've been growing peaches for more than 20 years.
Some years are great and some are total losses.
The freeze could have been nature's way of thinning the crop and could have done us a favor. Without a freeze, growers have to go into an orchard and thin out the fruit load on a tree, which drives up the labor cost. Rasberry said he believes the freeze overthinned this year's crop. Trees can set five to six times the amount of fruit needed. Recommendations on this web site do not endorse any commercial products or trade names.