By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent TRAFALGAR, Ind. — The recent extremes in weather conditions have wreaked havoc on Indiana’s fruit crop. Several warm days followed by a dip in temperatures into the teens in some parts of the state nearly wiped out the peach crop and hurt many varieties of apples, said Purdue University experts.
The heat caused fruit crops to develop earlier than usual, making them more vulnerable to frost damage.
“It isn’t so unusual for us to have 25 degrees or so in early April,” said Bruce Bordelon, a Purdue Extension viticulturist expert. “It’s unusual for us to have already accumulated 150 growing degree days in March before we ever got to April. Every hour in a day that the temperature is above 50 those plants are responding. We had enough growing degree days to push us to apple bloom and for grapes to bud out.”
In general, fruit crops budded out about two weeks earlier than usual, and it is more of a concern because there are a few more weeks before Indiana’s frost-free date. Damage was worse in southern Indiana because warmer temperatures spurred more plant and bud development.
The cold snap hit peaches the hardest of any fruit, with many growers reporting total losses, said Peter Hirst, a Purdue Extension fruit specialist. Apples also have been affected although it is too early to quantify the damage.
Hirst said the amount of damage depends on two factors. “One is how cold it got, but another one is what stage of development those crops were in when the cold conditions hit. Generally speaking, the more advanced the development, the more sensitive the plant is to the cold.”
Developing buds can tolerate below-freezing temperatures, he said, but once flowers open, they are very sensitive to cold. Hirst said he has seen several varieties of apples already in bloom and that these aren’t likely to produce much fruit at all this year.
Sarah Brown, owner of The Apple Works in Trafalgar, said the damage is the worst she has seen in her 18 years in the orchard business. “I’m very discouraged at this point in time … I’ve never seen anything like this,” Brown said. “The supporting structures look terrible.”
Grape yields are likely to decline by 50 percent to 75 percent, Bordelon said, and blueberry growers may lose up to three-fourths of their crop, he said.
Advice for growers
Purdue experts said that all growers – even those who have been hit hardest – should not let the cold snap prevent them from continuing to manage the crop, or they could suffer the consequences next year and beyond. While this depends upon the type of fruit and the extent of the damage, growers may be able to reduce some costs.
For example, if a crop produces no fruit, there is no need to apply pesticides for fruit-specific pests. But growers need to carefully weigh the different risks involved, Hirst said.
“People have to work on saving money without compromising the long-term integrity of the plants,” he said.
More chemical treatments may be needed in some cases because freeze damage leaves fruit trees vulnerable to additional diseases, particularly fire blight, said Janna Beckerman, a professor of botany and plant pathology.
Growers are encouraged to consult Purdue’s online newsletter, Facts for Fancy Fruit, in the upcoming weeks for fruit-specific advice. It is available online at www.hort.purdue.edu/fff
Last year, Indiana growers harvested 400 acres of grapes totaling about $1.5 million and 600 acres of blueberries totaling around $4 million. Producers also harvested about 2.000 acres of apples and 400 acres of peaches. This farm news was published in the April 25, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
