Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 15, 1990 TAG: 9006150756
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-9 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: STAUNTON LENGTH: Short
Ninety percent of the peach crop was ruined by the freezes that nipped buds, said Clayton Griffin, director of the Virginia State Apple Board.
Peach growers normally produce about 700,000 bushels annually.
The apple crop may be the worst in a decade, Griffin said Thursday.
"We are looking at a severely reduced crop," she said. "We have the capacity to produce 12 million bushels; we'll probably produce six million."
The state's 300 commercial apple growers are still recovering from last year's 35 percent crop loss. Peach growers also were hit hard last year, losing 50 percent of their crop to the weather.
"There are growers that are giving very serious thought to getting out of the business, and I think we'll see some of that," said Jack Rollins of the Fruit Research Lab in Winchester.
Rollins said the state apple industry probably will improve in about five years. He said a "thinning out" of growers in Virginia and overproduction in the west will spur the turnaround.
Virginia is the No. 6 apple producing state.
Despite the losses, Virginia consumers probably won't notice a difference in the price or availability of apples and peaches, Griffin said.
Grocers will bring in apples from Washington state and elsewhere. Reports from Washington state report a bumper crop there.
Peaches will be imported from larger production areas in California, South Carolina and Georgia, she said.
by CNB