Harsh weather in Ohio devastates peach crop

Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio

Farm markets around Ohio are overflowing with tomatoes, peppers and corn. Just don’t expect to find many Ohio-grown peaches.

This year’s harsh winter devastated the state’s peach crop.

Fruit farmers around the state are relying on growers in South Carolina and Georgia to replenish their peach supply.

“There might have been a few farms down south by the Ohio River that weren’t affected, but for the most part this year was a disaster,” said Bill Dodd, president of the Ohio Fruit Growers Marketing Association.

Terry Gram, who owns Arrowhead Orchard in northeastern Ohio near Canton, said he usually grows eight different varieties of peaches. Instead, he needed a shipment from a farm in Pennsylvania this year.

“The peaches and nectarines are pretty short this year because of the cold weather we had in January. It went from 40 degrees to ten below in 24 hours and peach trees can’t take that quick of a drop,” Gram said. “It was so bad that we even lost some of the peach trees altogether.