$250 MILLION GONE …
There’s a report out this week confirming the worst for South Carolina’s peach crop – which was hit hard by a series of late spring freezes.
According to WLTX TV 19 (CBS – Columbia, S.C.), the late snap of cold winter weather that hit back in March wiped out the vast majority of the state’s spring peaches – which has translated into empty stands at the state’s farmers market.
“Stands usually full to capacity with peaches were partially empty,” WLTX’s Lana Harris reported. “One vendor tells us they lost 75 percent of their peach crop.”
That’s not just anecdotal data, either …
Harris’ story quotes S.C. agriculture commissioner Hugh Weathers – who described the losses as “pretty significant,” estimating that upwards of eighty percent of the state’s crop was lost.
According to Weathers, that’s a $250 million hit to the state’s agriculture industry …
A total of 69,000 tons of peaches were harvested in South Carolina in 2015 – the second-highest total of any state in the nation. In fact, the Palmetto State’s peach haul was much better than the 40,600 tons of peaches harvested in 2015 in Georgia – which calls itself the “Peach State.”
America’s largest peach producer? California – which harvested a whopping 607,600 tons of the juicy nectarine in 2015.
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