Valley farmers are confident they will have a good peach crop

YOUNGSTOWN — Dan Simmons had concerns about his peach crop again this year at Peace Valley Orchards in Rogers.

Last year, he only had seven peaches, but this year Simmons is confident and happy to say he will have 2,500 to 3,000 bushels of peaches.

“Until you pick them, you don’t have them,” Simmons said. “Farmers are never satisfied. But we all do it because we love it.”

The usual peach production at Peace Valley is about 4,500 bushels.

In the 2013-14 winter, Simmons says the temperature hit 10 degrees below zero three times, which froze the peach crop here, and killed several trees.

Simmons lost at least 500 trees from the harsh winter.

“That’s part of the risk you take in Ohio,” Simmons said.

However, Eric Wilhelm, chief meteorologist for 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, contends this winter was a little worse than last. February was particularly worse. In fact, it is the coldest February on record.

“Once we turned the calendar over to April, the weather pattern changed,” Wilhelm said.

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com