LOWELL, Mich. — This lackluster winter has caused trouble for those who rely on snow and cold all season long— but now the recent blast of spring-like weather presents its own issues for local fruit farmers.
The warmer weather has caused some trees to start budding, and Railside Orchards owner Aaron Roth said their trees are about four weeks ahead of schedule due to those higher temps and lack of a deep freeze this winter.
While fruit farmers have to protect trees from frost during spring, the above average temperatures mean farmers must be prepared to protect trees for a longer period this year, which increases the chance of frost damage to trees.
An ideal situation would be for temperatures to settle back to average over the coming weeks to slow the current trajectory of the fruit budding process.
"That doesn't look like the forecast is going to hold that," Roth said. "So we just need to, you know, see that progress slowly. And hopefully we don't start getting it progressing too quickly and then see us a sharp snap down in temperature."
Despite the concerns about warming temperatures and frost damage, Roth said he's hopeful Railside Orchards won't be impacted.
"I mean, right now the trees are set for a nice Michigan crop. And we hope that that's what comes of it," he said. "But yeah, in a situation where we saw a really sharp drop in temperature, we could see some crop loss."
Roth said farmers are keeping an eye on the trees and the forecast every day.
"We're unprecedented as far as we're at right now. So we don't really quite know what's going to come and what we're going to need to do," he said.
Businesses like outdoor gear stores, hotels and ski resorts have also experienced lost revenue this winter due to unusually high temperatures and a lack of snow.
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