Alabama Peach Season Underway

At Ken Buck's farm in Grand Bay, workers are busy plucking ripe peaches. Thanks to cool weather early in the season, picking started a few weeks late this year. That's shortened the normal advantage Alabama farmers have over other peach growers.

“We don’t have the three weeks window here this year when we're the only ones with peaches,” says Farmer Ken Buck.

He say's they'll pick about a dozen different varieties well into the summer. Each ripens at a different time, but they all need water.

“It's been real dry down here but we're fortunate in that we have irrigation and that helps the fruit size better,” says Buck.

He says they average season yields about 80,000 pounds of peaches. Rain will be a big issue throughout the season. Irrigation will help, but farmers also need consistent, but brief rainfall.