EAGLE SPRINGS, N.C. — February’s unseasonably warm temperatures could cause problems for some crops in North Carolina. 

The unseasonably warm temperatures are causing some North Carolina peach trees to bloom early 

Ken Chappell expects to see about 50-60% of a crop from his peach orchard 

North Carolina’s average peach season runs from June through September

Chappell Peaches owner and operator Ken Chappell’s orchard is beginning to show signs of spring in the form of pink blooms on his peach trees. He said he would prefer to see blooms in March, and the warm temperatures are tricking them into opening early. 

“In my lifetime, I’ve seen blooms this far along in February maybe five times. Five or six times, and on those occasions we never had a big crop of peaches,” Chappell said.

Chappell can’t speak for all peach growers, but at the rate his trees are blooming, he expects to see about 50-60% of a crop from his orchard. He said a late winter freeze could kill the open blooms. The wind machines on his property help protect open blooms from cold to a certain extent. 

“We’ve got four of them, and they work together pretty good. We try to work them together, so to keep that warm air coming to the ground, push that cold air back up and mix it,” Chappell said. "We can raise that temperature about four degrees.” 

Farming runs in his family, and his years of experience and tradition have taught him to simply take every season as it comes. 

“I think looking at where we are now, and this is just an educated guess. It’s going to be hard for us to come through with a full crop of peaches, because we’ve got so many blooms out so early," Chappell said. “I have some optimism there could be at least half a crop or better, and we can do fair on a half a crop of peaches.” 

North Carolina’s average peach season runs from June through September.