A summer without peaches in South Jersey? Some farmers say crop damage is bad

A summer without peaches in South Jersey could be the reality in a couple of months, as some farmers say crop damage from wild weather swings has been catastrophic.

Carl Heilig, of Heilig Orchards, said he’s never seen this kind of destruction before.

“Had some cold temps down to 25 to 27 degrees for a pretty sustained time and it just froze the baby peach inside and turned it black within 24 hours,” Heilig said.

Heilig said a few extremely hot days this month caused the fruit to blossom, followed by frigid weather that killed the peach crops.

“I went to the highest elevation on the farm and I couldn’t find a live peach anywhere. It was unbelievable. I knew we were in trouble then,” he said.

Heilig said 200 acres of peaches are now gone, the equivalent of 70,000 25-pound half-bushel boxes.

“Same damn thing happened to the apples. They’re all brown inside. It’s just crazy,” Heilig said.

He told NBC10 his apple, pear and asparagus crops also suffered significant damage. He said he lost sleep for four nights trying to figure out what comes next.

Crop insurance will help some, he claims.

Now the focus is on gathering what’s left of the asparagus before saying goodbye to his workers. The loss of crops also means the loss of jobs and potentially more expensive fruit, if it’s available.

“This is catastrophic! I doubt folks will be able to find any peaches at all in New Jersey,” Heilig explained.

NBC10 also spoke to a South Jersey cherry farmer, who shared that their crop died from frosty temperatures.

The recent weather whiplash has caused at least one local farmer to lose his crops planted for the season. NBC10’s Matt DeLucia has the story,