The Packer published a story yesterday on the growth of the production of Florida peaches. The article notes that “With virtually no other peaches on the market for an eight- to 10-week period each spring, Florida’s peach crop is establishing a place for itself in the market.”
The story goes on to quote a grower in Arcadia FL southeast of Tampa as saying that this year’s crop will have better volume than last year’s because “Last year we didn’t have the cooler temperatures we needed to ‘set’ the crop. This year, conditions have been much better.” This is surprising to me because if you look at the AgroClimate chill hours calculator for chill hours in Arcadia, the total number this year is almost the same or maybe even a little less than last year. However, last year ‘s chill hour accumulation got a very late start compared to this year’s, so timing as well as accumulation may be an issue in producing fruit volumes.
