The Mitcham Peach Farm store is the largest peach orchard in Ruston. It has been operating for almost 80 years, but it has been experiencing an ongoing threat to its peaches.

The Mitcham farm originally started in 1946 when my parents bought this property here,” owner of Mitcham Peach Farm Store, Joe Mitcham, said. “And it was originally 300 acres and grew to 346 acres of peaches that we produce here. We sent peaches all over the country. Houston, Nashville, Little Rock.”

The peach farm eventually went 100 percent retail, becoming even more profitable. Years later, the farm was forced to cut down to 100 acres to produce top-quality crops. However, freezing temperatures and an ongoing fungus caused severe crop losses.

“The biggest issue we have right now is the fact that we have a fungus called Armillaria in the soil that originated from oak trees years ago,” Mitcham explained.

According to Mitcham, the Armillaria fungus lies dormant in the root structure. So, when they plant new trees, they all share the same root system.

“We are probably losing 10 percent of the orchard each year. If not even more than that.”

The farm has lost over 500 trees in recent years. There are 13,000 trees left, and some of them only survive half of their lifespan. Mitcham says he has been searching for other alternatives to revive the trees.

“Before 2000, we had a chemical called methyl bromide that we actually used to combat Armillaria, but the government thought that it was destroying the ozone layers, and took it off the market. We haven’t treated our soil since then.”

Despite the ongoing challenges, Mitcham says he will operate the business as long as he can.

“You can’t afford to keep making negative profits each year, but a lot of expenses still go on with chemicals, fertilizer, labor for pruning, and things like that.”

Mitcham said he would keep the business as a hobby and continue to make people happy.

The Mitcham Peach Farm store also offers a variety of peach items.

Source - https://www.brproud.com