By Shala Watson
Multimedia Writer

The mild winter this year has caused problems in orchards across the Lone Star State. The lack of chilling hours this winter has delayed blooming significantly, threatening the success of the state’s peach crop.

By this time of year, peach trees should have small fruit on them. But many trees still look like they are in winter dormancy, causing concern among growers across Texas.

All crops are subject to the weather and peaches may be more vulnerable. Late frosts during bloom, one of the most sensitive times of the peach season, can damage crops. But lack of chilling hours can also lead to a poor crop.

“We’re talking to growers and different specialists across the state and the lack of chill hours and the warm weather we’ve had this winter have affected our crop so far,” Chad Gulley, Smith County AgriLife Extension agent, told the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network.

Depending on the variety, Gulley said that trees in the Northeast Texas area are lacking more than 300 hours to break dormancy.

Gulley noted temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees are ideal for accruing chill hours for the fruit to break dormancy.

“Some of the early chill varieties, talking to some growers, may still make a little bit of fruit,” Gulley said. “I think it’s going to be something that’s going to affect some growers if this [fruit production] is their main line of work. It’s going to be a tough year for them.”

Darren Rozell, owner of Rozell Peach Farms in Tyler, said he hasn’t seen these types of mild conditions in more than 20 years.

“I think it was in 1986 that we had a very mild winter,” Rozell told the TFB Radio Network. “It looked the same then as they do now. They all worked, and they all came out, but some of them didn’t fully leaf out until around June. All of the trees survived, but we did not make a crop.”

Rozell noted that most growers in his region plant varieties that require more than 800 chill hours, and they have only received around 650 so far.

“I’ve got a couple of low-chill hour varieties that are full bloom and have a few peaches on them, but the rest of them are very scarce and look like it’s the dead of winter,” Rozell said. “They look completely dormant.”

This may be the best year for low-chill varieties of peaches with the major threat of a late frost gone.

“It’s just like night and day. We are seeing trees that are fully leafed out with small fruit on them and the tree right beside them on the next row just sitting there with no leaves, no bloom, nothing,” Gulley said.

Right now, it’s tough to tell what kind of peach harvest growers will see.

When the fruit falls after mid-May, peach growers should be able to tell how much damage was done and what kind of crop they will have.

“A one-time situation could be a crop loss for the producer, but the tree will survive,” Gulley said.

Several years of inadequate chill hours could be potentially devastating, according to Gulley. The lack of a peach crop could also drive up the price of fruit.

“The supply and demand is going to dry out the price and that’s going to affect the value of the crop,” Gulley said.

Rozell said he expects a washout in sales this year.

Some growers, according to Rozell, sprayed a product called Dormex to increase chill hours.

“We’re kind of anxious to see how that worked and how the fruit turned out on that,” Rozell said.

Growers in the Hill Country are also dealing with lack of chilling hours.

Even with a late freeze, it would be challenging to reach the number of chill hours the crop needs, according to Gulley.