Hudson Valley farmers fight to save beloved apples as some other crops are wiped out by freeze
During a tour Monday of Wright's Farm in Ulster County, owner Mike Boylan pointed out that, ideally, bees would be pollinating the apple trees at this point in the season which lead the trees to produce fruit. Much of the blooms were "cooked" though, Boylan found.
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Several Hudson Valley crops — including some varieties of apples — have been wiped out due to an early bloom and one recent bitterly cold night.
Danny Deising, of Meadowbrook Farms in Wappinger, said his peaches and plums are completely lost for the season, pears are in limbo and some apple varieties are close to kaput.
The early-blooming crops were extra vulnerable going into last Monday night's freeze. The kill-point for blooming crops is 27 degrees.
"It got down to 22," Deising said Monday during a survey of the farm.
In the farm's "Pick Your Own" apples area - the farm's biggest draw - the staff used technology and several fires in oil drums to blunt the freeze. Some buds on the trees closest to the fires survived, turning up green inside the bud instead of the dreaded black.
"It's a little better than I thought," Deising said after a quick inspection. "So we got a little. There's going to be fruit here, but nothing like what we were really hoping for."
During a tour of Wright's Farm in Ulster County, owner Mike Boylan pointed out that, ideally, bees would be pollinating the apple trees at this point in the season, which would lead the trees to produce fruit.
Much of the blooms were "cooked," though, Boylan found.
"The bee tries to find some pollen," he explained. "It's not there. So he just moves on — to dandelions."
Wright's might have to let some trees go for this season.
Boylan said he will check in another few more days before making a final decision whether to keep maintaining and spraying the trees.
"There is a point where economics comes in, if you don't have enough apples, to continue doing the jobs that need to be done," he said. "You just can't do it when there's no crop on a tree."
Both farmers told News 12 on Monday that they will survive the freeze fallout somehow, and while produce prices at some grocery stores might rise because of setbacks at commercial farms, their prices will not change much.
Their availability, though, of many fruits -- especially peaches, plums and other stone fruits -- is going to be limited this year, or non-existent.
