The inconsistent and unusual weather is expected to wreak havoc on some fruit crops in Massachusetts this year, including peaches.

Frank Carlson of Carlson Orchards in Harvard said acres of peach trees at his family’s farm may not have any peaches this summer.

“Unfortunately, it looks like all of (the buds) are brown. Enough of them are brown, so we’re not going to have a crop,” he said. 

Carlson said the buds could not withstand the swing in temperature and the arctic air earlier this month. 

“If we’d had a few nights of zero before the freeze, before the real disaster, those probably could have survived. Might have had damage, we might have lost 10, 15, 20 percent of the buds. But it was the sudden drop that took the crop,” he said. 

Carlson estimated the loss to be more than a third of the farm’s total income. 

Carlson Orchard is not alone. Other peach farms also experiencing the same.

“All of our pick-your-own friends, peach friends — all experiencing the same thing,” he said. 

While the Carlsons have crop insurance, they hope for more normal winter weather. 

“We need Mother Nature to come back down to earth and be more normal,” Carlson said. 

The last time this happened was in 2016.

Source - https://www.wcvb.com