By Alabama Public Radio
Chilton County AL – Warm weather this winter has Alabama in bloom a bit early. However, the warm weather apparently hasn't hurt this year's peach crop. Peach trees require hundreds of so-called "chill hours" where temperatures are below 45 degrees. So far this year, "chill hours" are a bit below average, which has caused some early budding on the trees. But Jim Pitts, superintendent of the Chilton Research and Extension Center, says there's been enough cold weather to keep that budding in check. About 80-percent of Alabama's peach crop is produced in Chilton County, where the industry creates 10-13 million dollars a year in revenue. But Pitts says that dollar figure doesn't necessarily indicate a bumper crop of peaches. Years that have produced bumper crops have also seen supplies outsize demand ... which drives prices down and expenses up. With that in mind, Pitts says Alabama usually does better when it doesn't harvest a full crop.