California’s Big Peach Push: Growing the Perfect Fruit to Compete

When you think of California, you probably don't think of peaches, but the state is actually a powerhouse peach producer. In fact, the Central Valley of California produces 14 times more peaches than the entire state of Georgia. This week, we visited a California orchard where one grower is striving to grow the perfect peach. We've picked this orchard once already. Growing the perfect peach? We will go through here four or five times before the block is finished. Well, that's become Scott Peters' life work. This does not have a point to it. It's very round. It'll sit nice in the box. It doesn't wiggle during transport. Peters is a fourth generation grower in Reedley, California, and producing a crop here has become so competitive and so expensive that they always strive to find new ways to grow peaches that are ripe with exactly what consumers want. We want full, even color all the way around. This one has what we call a leaf mark on it right here where the sun was blocked from it. You can see the lighter tones. It's not as desirable at the store level. Those will fade after it's picked, so it won't be as distinct, but those are just the characteristics that we're trying to get to maximize perfection at the store level. This orchard sits in the heart of California's Central Valley, an area known for not only how diverse it is and what these soils can grow, but the volume of produce this area pumps out every year. The Fresno area, if you take a radius of 100 miles around from Fresno, California, that 100-mile radius produces 50% of the nation's vegetables, fruits, and nuts, so it's a very special little area. And when it comes to peaches, this area knows how to grow them. California actually grows more peaches than all other 32 peach-producing states combined. California, up against other states, we have to go as big as we can, as much as we can to compete market-wise. We get the premium price, and that makes up the difference for our labor costs and our water costs and all these other variables that we can't control because other places aren't able to do that according to the climate we have, according to the soils we have, the water we have. It's a little different here. Knowing they have to grow for size, Peters is trying something new. Yes, these are big. Seeing just how big they can grow these peaches this year without sacrificing taste or look. The biggest ones on the tree here are gonna average over one pound per piece of fruit. Is that normal? No, that is not normal. This is a rare situation, so don't think that that's the industry standard or that's what we're actually doing, but we can get them this big consistently on a rare occasion. Gigantic peaches already weighing over a pound. The Peters are exploring if this is what American shoppers are hungry for. We do different trials throughout the year on different varieties, and we try to push different aspects of the fruit just for a learning experience, and so this is one of them. A sweet discovery in a year when the market is a little sluggish, but it's these California peaches that could soon be featured in a store near you. I learned so much during our trip in the Central Valley of California this week, and we will continue to air some of those stories in the coming months, but next week we are on the road for the 2025 Pro Farmer Crop Tour. Join us next weekend for extensive coverage of what Scouts saw and the impact that it could possibly have on the markets. That's next weekend, but from all of us at U.S. Farm Report, I'm Tyne Morgan. Thank you for watching this weekend. Be sure to join us next weekend as we work to build on our tradition. Have a great weekend, everyone. U.S. Farm Report is produced and distributed by Farm Journal Broadcast.