The Mid-Atlantic tree fruit industry is shrinking under pressure from housing developments, as city commuters build luxury homes in rural areas. “We’ve lost a lot of land to development,” Dr. Jerome Frecon, agricultural agent with Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension in New Jersey, told members of the International Fruit Tree Association at the annual conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania. “When land’s $25,000 to $95,000 an acre, there’s no way you’re going to farm it.” New Jersey has 7,000 acres of peaches, and Pennsylvania has 3,475. The region has a good climate for growing peaches, but per capita consumption is flat or […]