Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y.
Anxious farmers in fruit-growing regions of the Great Lakes, Northeast and even parts of the South kept misters, smudge pots and helicopters in their arsenals as a cold front approached from Canada, threatening to freeze trees and vines overnight that had budded early amid record-setting warmth.
At risk are this season’s harvests of wine grapes, apples, apricots, cherries, pears, peaches and possibly strawberries.
If the freeze causes damage, consumers likely would notice it on a regional scale at farm stands, farmers markets and other outlets.
Cameron Hosmer was counting on a helicopter to mix warmer air with the cold at ground level this morning at his 60-acre vineyard in New York’s Finger Lakes region.
He worried most about his French- American hybrid grape De Chaunac, which are farthest along with half-inch buds, but noted he and other growers were at nature’s mercy.
“We’re not in charge,” he said. “We’re guests here. You’re going to have to be prepared for disappointments.”
The National Weather Service has issued hard-freeze and frost warnings and watches in a swath from the central Great Lakes to the East Coast.
Temperatures could drop as low as the midteens across a swath of states including Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virginia.
“This is absolutely the earliest we’ve seen,” Cornell University horticulture professor Susan Brown said of the combination of freezing weather and plants that have come alive early. Most threatened overnight are apricots, which are already in full bloom.
“They’re going to be toast,” she said.
Seeds planted early in home gardens should be fine, experts said, but tender ornamentals and early-blooming flowers such as tulips and daffodils can be covered with sheets or newspapers to give them a good chance of making it through the night.
Containers should be brought indoors.
The experts say it’s hard at this point to project the effect on fruit supplies or consumer prices. But two of the nation’s largest fruit-growing states — California (apricots) and Washington (apples) — will avoid the cold snap.