Ohio-grown peaches may be nearly impossible to find come summer. Experts believe this winter’s extreme cold temperatures may have zapped the crop statewide.At a growers meeting last week involving the Ohio Fruit Growers Marketing Association, farmers from across the state met to size up the damage. Bringing sample cuttings from their crops, they looked at the plants under the microscope and found that nearly none were still alive.
“None of them were found to be viable, but it’s not 100 percent certain,” Russ Joudrey, Apple Hill Orchard owner, said. “We’re not throwing in the towel yet.”
Fruit growers across the state are holding on to the same hope, said Bill Dodd, president of the Ohio Fruit Growers Marketing Association. All that’s left to do is wait until the first of May to see what blossoms and what doesn’t, he said.“We’re certain there’s been damage, we’re just waiting to see how much,” Dodd said. Peaches are a sensitive fruit, tapping out around -10 degrees, Dodd said. But the state has seen much colder than that the last two months, with temperatures consistently dropping below zero each night, sometimes as low as 40 below zero.
Dave Riedel, who owns a 22-acre plot in Galion, said some of the larger farms use wind machines or hire helicopters during extreme weather like this, to stir up the air and help funnel some of the warm air back to the plants. But most of Ohio’s farmers simply wait it out, and hope. “It’s too early to tell if it killed the plant or just the crop,” Fairview Farms and Orchard owner Riedel said. “Years like this you’re just hoping you don’t lose the whole tree.”
A normal winter is healthy for the fruit plants, Dodd explained. It sends the trees into the needed hibernation and helps kill of pests, but prolonged harsh winters like the one that has ravaged the state the past few months can do serious damage. And that could mean higher costs for consumers at the fruit stand. “There’ll be peaches available, it’s just a matter of where we’ll have to go to get them,” Joudrey said. He hasn’t heard how the cold spell in the southern states affected crops there, he said.
Peaches aren’t the only crop that has growers concerned. Variations of blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries and grapes also have been said to be at risk. But around north central Ohio, apples and peaches make up most growers crops. If they don’t produce, growers don’t get paid.
On Riedel’s farm, three variations of peaches comprise 60 percent of his orchard. He wasn’t among the growers who tested their plants last week. He said he’s been holding off on the bad news. “I almost don’t want to do it (test the plants),” Riedel said. “I don’t want the bad news. It’s really disheartening when you plan on (the crop yields) as part of your bottom line and you know from the start it’s not going to be there.” That said, apples growers in the area are expected to fare better. The plants are much more resilient to the cold, Dodd explained.
On Apple Hill’s 60-acre orchard, that’s good news. “Based on what I’ve seen so far, it doesn’t look like there will be significant damage (to the apples),” Joudrey said. “Negative 15 degrees or more is cold enough to kill the bud, but not the tree.” Growers said they’ll also have to keep an eye on the plants as temperatures heat up. Swings in warm and cold temperatures can be just as damaging to the plants, especially if prolonged warm weather is followed by a cold snap.
Riedel remembers such a time toward late winter of 2011. Temperatures spiked in the near 80s for a week and then plummeted again. “Everything blossomed and it was beautiful, and then it got cold again,” Riedel said. “We didn’t have a single peach that year.” He’s hoping not to repeat that pattern. “There’s nothing you can do about it,” Riedel said. “It’s totally dependent on what Mother Nature wants to do.”
Source - http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/
