March Freeze Could Mean $27M in South Carolina Peach Losses

Officials said the late March freeze that killed roughly 30 percent of this year’s South Carolina peach crop will cause statewide losses of at least $27 million. During a stop at the headquarters of the J.W. Yonce & Sons peach-growing operation, State Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers talked about the state’s losses. Gov. Nikki Haley also visited the Johnston orchards to see the damage from the freeze that hurt early-ripening peaches in Aiken, Edgefield and Saluda counties. Larry Yonce said the freeze wiped out about 40 percent of his family’s 2014 peach crop.