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Step-by-step explanation:
After ending 2015 with some record-breaking warm and wet weather, Georgia’s fruit and tree nut farmers are concerned that the lack of chill hours and soggy soil could damage their crops.
Most of December averaged about 10 degrees above normal temperatures across the state, and many parts of Georgia saw 8 to 10 inches more rainfall than normal, according to the National Weather Service.
While a mild winter can slow or derail the development of blueberries and peaches and soggy soils can damage the trees and bushes, farmers are hopeful that a return to relatively normal winter temperatures will help them finish out the growing season successfully.
With December weather in the 70s — and even into the 80s in some parts of south Georgia — some blueberry growers are already seeing buds, flowers and scattered “blue fruit” on their bushes, said Renee Allen, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s commercial blueberry agent.