US (NY): Farmers worry about big apple chill
The unseasonably cold air moved into Northeast and mid-Atlantic states earlier this month shortly after a warm spell sped up bud growth on apple trees. Buds become more sensitive to cold as they mature, making the cold snap especially troubling in big apple-producing states such as New York. Farmers are already checking individual buds for damage but don’t expect to have an estimate of losses until this week at the earliest.
Farmers say it is still too early to say whether the weather significantly damaged crops. Apple and blueberry crops are most at risk of damage, as those crops had just begun to bloom, and were thus most susceptible to the sudden temperature change.
Damage will vary from farm to farm depending on varieties, how low local temperatures dropped and how far along the buds were. Losses can even vary around a single farm, with trees in colder valleys affected while trees on a hillside escape harm. Some orchards farther north, like in New York’s Champlain Valley, are expected to escape large-scale damage because of their later growing season.
Source: trivalleycentral.com/
