The latest deep freeze could mean fewer peaches for many in the Southeast. However, Limestone farmers remain optimistic.

Commercial Horticulture Regional Extension Agent Doug Chapman said the area did get “some damage” when it comes to peaches, but should still have a full crop.

The 25- and 20-degree nights early last week did some damage to blossoms and open blooms, Chapman said. “Some varieties were lost, but we will have peaches this summer to sell,” he said.

Right now, many farmers are crossing their fingers as they wait for April 15 — typically the last average frost — to roll around.

Marlene Isom said in talking with her husband Wes that some of their early crop at Isom’s Orchard were hurt worse than others. “Our fingers are crossed right now,” Marlene said, adding though the freeze hurt some crop it’s almost like they didn’t get enough cold weather. “It’s a funny year.”

Last summer’s drought did play a role in stressing some peach crops leaving some buds weak and some bud sets a little light.

An extremely warm winter also affected peach chilling hours — the hours some varieties need for temperatures to be between 45 and 32 degrees in order to break dormancy. “This year we are right on the edge of getting enough,” Chapman said, adding he knows at least one farmer who had to use a chemical for chilling for the first time ever in this area.

“Growing peaches in the Southeast is the most management intensive agriculture endeavor that I know of,” Chapman said. “It’s the hardest thing anybody can grow in the hardest part of the country to grow anything.” He said it’s not for the faint of heart. “If you can grow here, you can farm anywhere else in the country.”

Isom said they are remaining optimistic. “That’s how you have to be in farming,” she said. “We’ll keep watching.”

Other parts of the country weren’t so lucky. Last week’s deep freeze nearly wiped out South Carolina’s peaches and Georgia’s blueberries. Georgia might be the Peach State, but blueberries have recently passed peaches in value. According to the Associated Press, about 80 percent of Georgia’s blueberries were lost.

South Carolina is the second biggest peach producer in the United States, behind only California. South Carolina lost about 85 percent of its peaches.

Between the two states, crop losses from the freeze could approach $1 billion, according to officials.

The damage also included apples and strawberries that grew ahead of schedule during unseasonably warm temperatures in February.