Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black
Photo courtesy of GA Dept. of Agriculture
“The cold weather this week, in addition to cooler temperatures throughout this winter season, have proven beneficial to many of our crops by providing much needed chill hours. In fact, peach and blueberry crops have received more chill hours this year than the last two years combined. We must of course always be realistic in the fact that there is a lot more season to go, and as we experienced last year on the night of March 28, one late freeze can break an entire crop, but as of right now we feel blessed to have set the foundation of the chill hours and are optimistic that this season will be a productive and profitable one for our farmers. The freezing temperatures have also resulted in some losses in our winter vegetables, but farmers are still hopeful that those losses will be offset by the anticipated reduction in the whitefly population that wreaked havoc on cotton and produce crops this past year. Other sectors of Georgia agriculture have also been affected by the frigid weather and snowfall, with poultry farmers incurring increased energy costs, as well as concerns from livestock producers regarding significant setbacks in winter grazing and a depleting hay inventory.”
—Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black