@chickadoodles I agree with Alaskan, in that it looks like mechanical damage, though if it is just a couple of isolated patches, I'd be more inclined to think someone isn't as careful as they should be when mowing.
It does appear to have been healing, so whatever it was probably happened quite some time ago, maybe at the beginning of the last growing season. The "plants" on the trunk are actually lichens; they may look unsightly, but they don't use the tree for anything other than as a structure to grow on, so they do no harm.
A diagnosis requires a bit more information - did the trees just "wake up dead" this year? Fruit trees are prone to a number of diseases, including some root fungi that can kill them off below the soil.
It does appear to have been healing, so whatever it was probably happened quite some time ago, maybe at the beginning of the last growing season. The "plants" on the trunk are actually lichens; they may look unsightly, but they don't use the tree for anything other than as a structure to grow on, so they do no harm. A diagnosis requires a bit more information - did the trees just "wake up dead" this year? Fruit trees are prone to a number of diseases, including some root fungi that can kill them off below the soil.
