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Peach crop survives cold snap

After nights this week dropping into the upper 20s, CEO of Lane Southern Orchards says we will have "plenty of peaches" this season!

Rows of blossoming peach trees line the road to Lane Southern Orchards in Fort Valley.

CEO of Lane Southern Orchards Mark Sanchez says those trees were far from peachy in 2017.

"Last year was a perfect storm of two events -- one was we had a very warm winter so we didn't get enough chill hours, which affected the bloom, and then we had a late freeze after the bloom."

Those blooms now blow in the wind at the orchard, but also got bothered by the cold weather this past week.

"We were very concerned about it," Sanchez said.

They're concerned about what makes for a poisonous pair for peaches.

"We had several nights in the high 20s, together with the fact that we had an early bloom," Sanchez explained.

That sounds a lot like last year's peach season, but the outcome so far is very different.

"Most of our peaches are in the 650-850-chill hour range requirement, " Sanchez continued, "This year we received more than enough."

This means good news for this year's season.

"We're gonna have plenty of peaches this year," Sanchez said.

Sanchez did mention a few peaches took a hit from the cold and didn't survive, but not enough for concern.

Now, his concern turns to other weather hazards.

"Now we can start worrying about things like tornadoes, and hailstorms, and droughts, and hurricanes," Sanchez said.

Leaving farmers at Lane's throwing up prayers for fair weather, so a prosperous peach season, beginning in mid May, plays out.

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