
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 30, 1995                   TAG: 9507280022
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: G-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PEACHES REBOUND FROM DREADFUL '94

This year's Virginia peach harvest is expected to more than double the disastrous crop of 1994 but will not set a record, the Virginia Agricultural Statistics Service has reported.

Commercial Virginia peach producers are expected to harvest 26 million pounds of peaches this year, compared with a harvest of 10 million pounds in 1994.

Mild winter weather and seasonal spring temperatures promoted a heavy bloom, and good pollination and heavy fruit set prevailed in late spring, the service said. However, heavy rains and hail in June and early July damaged early peach varieties in some counties, the service said.

The U.S. peach crop is forecast at 2.49 billion pounds, down 1 percent from last year and 6 percent from 1993.

Other farm production highlights include:

This year's wheat yield is estimated at 58 bushels per acre, which would be a record high for Virginia farmers. The previous record of 57 bushels per acre was set in 1992. The state's winter wheat production is expected to be 16 million bushels, up 14 percent from a year earlier.

The barley yield is forecast at 78 bushels per acre, up five bushels per acre from last year.

Flue-cured tobacco yields in Virginia are expected to be 2,250 pounds per acre this year, down 170 pounds from the record high yield of 2,420 pounds harvested in 1994. Yields, however, may be significantly less than estimated because of crop diseases and unfavorable weather conditions occurring in recent weeks, the service said.

by CNB