Georgia Citrus Grower Sustains Hail Damage

Sub-freezing temperatures this week across the cold-hardy citrus region had minimal impact on the region’s fruit crop. A hailstorm in a couple of South Georgia counties, however, was another story.

Lindy Savelle, executive director of the Georgia Citrus Association and owner of JoNina Farm in Ochlocknee, said her operation was battered by hail for about 15 to 20 minutes late Sunday.

“We had actually taken a load of trash to the dump. I looked across the field, and I could see the hail coming. We started dumping the trash, and I left three trash cans on the ground and jumped in the truck. It was pecking us like crazy,” Savelle said. “I have one collection of it that came off of our greenhouse gutter. I measured it, and it was 21 inches of hail that was stacked up and coming out of that gutter.”

Some parts of her greenhouse were damaged and will need to be replaced, but for now they are patched. In addition to the structural damage, the hail punctured holes in some of the fruit that was nearly ready for harvest. Savelle estimated less than 10% fruit damage. But considering the small amount of satsuma mandarins in the cold-hardy region this season, an already small crop load was made even smaller.

“I didn’t have much fruit. We cut down 250 trees. Then the hail pounded what we did have. There’s just a lack of it,” she said.

Savelle estimated that hail damage was observed in north Grady County, Thomas County and a little in Brooks County.

It was an active weekend for Savelle. Following the hailstorm, she had to ensure her young citrus trees were covered with Tree Defenders (a brand of individual protective covers) before the sub-freezing temperatures. The management strategy paid off for the citrus grower and others like her.

“The freeze didn’t really do anything to us at all. We covered the small trees with the Tree Defenders, and they were just fine,” Savelle said. “After a weather event I always reach out to people, and everybody said they were good. The freeze went to 27 degrees and 28 in other places, but it didn’t hurt us.”