Peach season slow but healthy after weather whiplash

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Peach grower Wayne "Ren" Sirles expected to fill his new, barn-style store July 1, when the season's first tangy clingstones are usually ready for picking.

But the veteran grower had to wait until Monday before he had enough fruit to sell -- thanks to cold and wet spring weather that damaged trees and left orchards across the state about a week behind in their harvests, Sirles said Wednesday.

"We do 5 percent of the work and Mother Nature does 95 percent," he said. "And she won't be rushed."

But she does have a way of compensating for damaging weather.

After a little extra time in the sun, growers in the state's peach country -- from the Metro East to the Kentucky border -- will see healthy, 75 to 100 percent crop yields, said Donald Fike, a statistician with the state Department of Agriculture.

While that's not quite as good as last year's bountiful harvest -- spurred along by unusually mild winter and spring weather -- it's good enough, said Angela Gordon, a spokeswoman for Eckerts Orchard in St. Clair County.

"We're not looking as good as last year, but last year was just phenomenal," she said.

Prices should creep slightly above last year's $10 to $11 per half-bushel, said Chris Doll, a growers' consultant, mainly because of inflation.

But he said the summer's unusually dry heat is more of a concern than spring's early hot spell, followed by cold floods.

Rainfall levels in June were nearly 4 inches below average for the month, said Rick Shanklin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., which covers far southern Illinois.

Although moisture levels rose slightly toward the Metro East, June's levels remained far below average across the region, he said.

Sirles, 60, considered the roller-coaster year as he surveyed his new store, which will supplement his sales to roadside stands and groceries across the Midwest. His family has owned the orchard for 130 years.

"We're out of step with mother nature this year," he said, between directing his pickers on a two-way radio.

"But I don't want people to think we won't have peaches," he said. "Eventually, we'll have plenty."