Lingering drought threatens top New Jersey crops, raising fears of higher prices and shortages

New Jersey is one of the nation's top growers of peaches, but the juicy fruit may be harder to find this season at farm stands, and possibly more expensive at the grocery store because of Mother Nature.

Since Tuesday, John Hurff has been inspecting the rows of peach trees at Schober's Orchards and Farm Market in Monroeville.

For the first time in more than 40 years, Hurff fears the entire peach crop at his farm is in jeopardy this season, after Tuesday morning's frost killed many of the buds. Hurff says the damage is done, but he also needs rain to keep the trees alive.

"The peaches are hurt pretty bad, I think the apples could possibly be hurt bad, but I really won't know for another couple weeks to see what grows and what doesn't," he said.

"At this point, if we don't start getting rain, it could get really bad," Bill Exley, owner of Exley's Christmas Tree Farm, said.

Exley's livelihood is also at the mercy of the weather. It's currently planting and digging season at Exley's Tree Farm, and with all of New Jersey in a moderate drought, Exley says he had to begin irrigating earlier than normal this year.

"Because we're not just going to let the trees die, we are going to irrigate, but it's going to be very costly for us and very time-consuming for us," Exley said.

Back at Schober's Orchards, Hurff says the drought could impact not only the peach and apple trees but crops as well. Farmers will begin planting corn and soybeans in about three to four weeks, but Hurff says he needs moisture in the ground in order to do that. If not, he will have to wait, which could delay the harvest.

"When you're dry, you have to have water, everything needs water," Hurff said. "Stuff doesn't grow as well. Puts a lot more stress on the plant, puts a lot more stress on you."