4.24.2008 9:55 AM

Weather Hits Organic Crops Hard

Several Crops in California Could Be Damaged Due to Cold

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Fruit such as peaches suffer from frost.

Peaches and other crops in California could be damaged by frost.

Photo: Istock

By Annie Bell Muzaurieta

A freeze earlier this week in California has damaged several crops there, according to a release from Organic Partners International, LLC. Several farmers and processors have stopped offering products or have increased their prices to reflect damage to their crops, according to the release.

The extent of the damage won't be known for another week, but the most susceptible crops are prunes, peaches, apricots, walnuts, and other tree crops.

The release states that for buyers of organic crops this shortage is exacerbated by the decline of the US dollar. Even before the freeze, growers were getting EU certified so that they could sell their goods overseas.

In March, US strawberry growers were hoping a freeze didn't damage their crops.

And this month growers in Georgia faced cold that could be bad enough to damage their peach crops. The Peach County extension service says three different cold snaps caused some damage, and some estimate up to 30 percent of crops in middle Georgia could be affected.

This time last year an Easter freeze ruined 80 percent of the middle Georgia peach crops, according to the Macon, Georgia ABC news affiliate.

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