Share and Follow
BRIDPORT, Vt. (AP) — A sudden transition from warm to chilly weather in the Northeast is posing challenges for flower and fruit growers. Farmers are either rushing to harvest blossoms prematurely or are concerned about potential crop losses.
While frosty nights are not uncommon during this season, the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University notes that the usual last frost date varies from mid-April to early June across the region. This year, however, the first half of April brought an unexpected heatwave, followed by a sharp drop in temperatures, potentially threatening agricultural yields.
Last week, parts of New England experienced temperatures soaring into the 80s Fahrenheit (around 27 degrees Celsius), only to be followed by snow shortly after. The cold snap persisted into the current week, prompting the National Weather Service to issue freeze warnings for Monday night and Tuesday morning in areas including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.
At Apple Hill Orchards in Ohio, encompassing 80 acres in Mansfield and 110 acres in Fredericktown, the warm spell prompted premature budding of peach and apple trees. Unfortunately, temperatures then plummeted to the low 20s Fahrenheit (around minus 5 degrees Celsius), damaging one variety of peach, according to owner Anne Joudrey.
“Farming is unpredictable, and you can never be entirely sure what to expect,” Joudrey remarked on Monday. “We had a promising bloom, so we were hopeful for a good harvest.”
The apples were doing OK, she said, and it helps that the trees are planted on high ground so cold air drains away.
“We should fare pretty well, hopefully,” she said. “But you never know.”
In Vermont, the temperature swing affected operations at Understory Farm in Bridport, which grows cut flowers. Tulips that were supposed to be ready for Mother’s Day in mid-May have already bloomed in the farm’s greenhouses, said owner Gregory Witscher.
“That just means that we have to harvest them all at the same time,” he said. “We have to harvest them and store them with the bulbs on in creates in a walk-in cooler for longer.”
Witscher grows about 50 varieties of flowers for wholesale markets. Weather fluctuations require flexibility, he said, and it’s become more common for small vegetable and flower farms to have row covers or heaters to protect plants from cold or shade cloth for extreme heat.
“With the hot weather and then the cold weather, I think its intense, and it makes things challenging,” he said. “The longer I do this, the more I want to have as many options as possible and have a lot of tools and resources available to be extremely nimble.”