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How growers battle morning frost in West Michigan

Growers continue to battle frosty mornings around West Michigan this week. Meteorologist Michael Behrens looks at how they do it.

FENNVILLE, Mich. — This past week has continued to bring chilly and frosty conditions into West Michigan to kick off most days, and we are expecting more frost & freeze conditions to start off Thursday! 

This is all pretty normal for West Michigan, but when these conditions follow the unseasonably warm weather we had a few weeks back, it means fruit growers have to work overtime. That's because a spell of cold and frosty conditions after warm weather can mean harm to the fruit crop before the season even gets underway.

Farms around the region have a number of techniques to battle these conditions. They can range from starting large fires to giant fans, all with the goal of keeping the air moving and the frost out.

Credit: WZZM
An early morning fire started at Railside Orchards to help protect fruit trees.

At Gold Coast Farms in Fennville, they have what are called wind machines. These are giant fans that keep air moving, and mix down warmer layers, in order to boost or maintain temperatures around the fruit trees in cold overnight conditions. 

Vice President of Gold Coast Farms, Scott Phelps, tells us these machines can work wonders. 

"The first two I put in, I paid for them in one night. I had such a good crop where those machines were and I got out of that circle and the crop fell off just drastically," Phelps said.

Credit: WZZM
A wind machine standing over a peach orchard at Gold Coast Farms.

He does, however, warn that it is an expense you need to calculate before installing such machines. 

"You could put them in and not run them, that's the downside of wind machines. It's insurance. That's pretty much what a wind machine is, you're buying insurance and hope that they work," Phelps added.

As good as the machines are, what Phelps and the rest of the growers here in West Michigan really need is stable and average weather. 

"Whenever people say, I love this weather, in late winter and spring, fruit growers don't like it, because it's you know, we just advanced ahead, in that week, we advanced three weeks ahead just in one week," Phelps said.

"Farmers love normal, they love average, and we don't seem to get that a whole lot anymore. It's the extremes, the highs and the lows are ever getting so much worse with our extremes," he said.

"We get through tonight and then we're set up for a nice crop."

-- Meteorologist Michael Behrens

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Email me at: MBehrens@13OnYourSide.com

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