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Bumper peach crop expected
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FORT VALLEY (AP) - The harvesting, packaging and selling of Georgia's peaches has begun, and growers are cautiously looking for a bumper crop this year.

Robert Dickey, owner of Dickey Farms in Musella, said conditions were so favorable that growers had to thin the crop.

"We've had to go through a lot of expense and trouble to take fruit off the tree, so they would get big," Dickey said. "If you leave too many peaches on the tree, they won't get big."

Dickey remains wary. "We may still have something that affects the crop, like a storm, windstorm or too much rain. But this is the first time in about six years that we've had a full crop," he said.

The early variety being sold at Dickey Farms is a red peach called flavor rich, Dickey said.

Charles Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, agreed that's it's been a good year for growers.

"There were plenty of chill hours and sufficient rain," Hall said Thursday. "It's been perfect, weatherwise."

Early varieties usually become ripe in late May, and the state's last peaches usually ripen in late July, so it's too soon to make a yield estimate. Hall said that in 2008, the last year for which he had figures, Georgia's peach crop was worth about $48 million.

Duke Lane III, vice president of sales at Lane Southern Orchards in Fort Valley, says the Georgia Peach Council created a campaign to help growers push local sales.

The campaign urges people to "always ask for Georgia peaches."

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Record April boosts Savannah's container trade at port
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The Port of Savannah moved 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units in April, an increase of 7.1 percent. - photo by Provided

The Georgia Ports Authority's busiest April ever pushed its fiscal year-to-date totals to more than 3.4 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs), an increase of 8.8 percent, or 280,000 TEUs, compared to the first 10 months of fiscal 2017.

"We're on track to move more than 300,000 TEUs in every month of the fiscal year, which will be a first for the authority," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "We're also anticipating this to be the first fiscal year for the Port of Savannah to handle more than 4 million TEUs."

April volumes reached 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units, up 7.1 percent or 23,700 units. As the fastest growing containerport in the nation, the Port of Savannah has achieved a compound annual growth rate of more than 5 percent a year over the past decade.

"As reported in the recent economic impact study by UGA's Terry College of Business, trade through Georgia's deepwater ports translates into jobs, higher incomes and greater productivity," said GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood. "In every region of Georgia, employers rely on the ports of Savannah and Brunswick to help them become more competitive on the global stage."

To strengthen the Port of Savannah's ability to support the state's future economic growth, the GPA Board approved $66 million in terminal upgrades, including $24 million for the purchase of 10 additional rubber-tired gantry cranes.  

"The authority is committed to building additional capacity ahead of demand to ensure the Port of Savannah remains a trusted link in the supply chain serving Georgia and the Southeast," Lynch said.

The crane purchase will bring the fleet at Garden City Terminal to 156 RTGs. The new cranes will support three new container rows, which the board approved in March. The additional container rows will increase annual capacity at the Port of Savannah by 150,000 TEUs.

The RTGs will work over stacks that are five containers high and six deep, with a truck lane running alongside the stacks. Capable of running on electricity, the cranes will have a lift capacity of 50 metric tons.

The cranes will arrive in two batches of five in the first and second quarters of calendar year 2019.

 Also at Monday's meeting, the GPA Board elected its officers, with Jimmy Allgood as chairman, Will McKnight taking the position of vice chairman and Joel Wooten elected as the next secretary/treasurer.

For more information, visit gaports.com, or contact GPA Senior Director of Corporate Communications Robert Morris at (912) 964-3855 or rmorris@gaports.com.

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