Peaches are back in season across the South, and especially in The Peach State. Wait, which state is that anyway?

Georgia goes by The Peach State – you can see it on Georgians’ license plates. But the true title of Peach State really should go to South Carolina, which traditionally ships more peaches than its neighbor to the west.

The New York Times examined the longtime rivalry between the two states in a July 28 article “Peach Rivalry Becomes a War Between the Tastes.”

Times reporter Kim Severson says Georgia took the lead in the late 19th century with a variety called Elberta. South Carolina became the top producer in the 1950s.

Today, the Times article says, it’s a battle over taste. “Georgia may be the peach state, but we’re the tastier peach state,”  Desmond R. Layne, an associate professor at Clemson University, told The Times.

And let’s not forget about local peaches here in North Carolina. At Barbee Farms in Concord, they’re reporting a good year. “We’ve got a great crop, a full crop,” farmer Brent Barbee told DavidsonNews.net. “We’ve had enough rain to swell ’em up like they need to be.”

Barbee Farms has 11 varieties, ripening at different times from June to September. Peaches are so popular at this time of the year that the farm sells most of the crop at its farm stand, 1000 Shelton Road off Poplar Tent Road.