<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Hill County, Texas</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By Eric Anderson<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">3.22.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Although cold weather hit some Hill County, Texas peach crops as the tail end of winter passed, growers still have high hopes for a healthy summer crop.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>The late-winter temperature drop into the 20s thinned some early blooming varieties of peaches, according to Dan Rohrer, President of the Hill Country Fruit Council, the San Antonio Express-News reported. Growers would have had to thin the crops anyway, but at this point a late spring frost could present a significant threat.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/texaspeach032213body1.jpg" alt="IMAGES 3-21-2013" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Russ Studebaker of the Studebaker Farm in Blumentahl split a few blossoms on his 30-acre grove this week to check for budding fruit.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>"For the most part, we've got a pretty hearty crop," said Studebaker, who markets some of the produce on stands along highways.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>"We don't want to be overconfident at this point," Rohrer said. "We have forecasts showing in the 30-degree range, in the middle 30s — I think Saturday — coming up, and on the longer-term forecast right around Easter. ... The middle 30s are fine. It's that 30 degrees and 28 degrees that compromises cell structure."</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/agriculture/texas-growers-hopeful-for-upcoming-peach-crop/nWyw6/" target="_new">Texas Peaches</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
