WEBSTER – A local apple farm is bracing for what could be a challenging harvest season.
Schutt’s Apple Mill in Webster is dealing with the impact of recent cold temperatures on its 28 acres of apple trees. The farm typically aims for 50 bins of apples per acre during a good harvest.
Owner Evan Schutt believes He said the farm will still get a good harvest, but not its best. He said they now have less room for error.
“I think that it’s a long road. It’s a long road from here,” said Schutt.
The farm installed irrigation two years ago to help with drought. Then it was time to deal with cold temperatures.
“The weather’s just becoming more and more variable,” said Schutt. “I remember talking to another farmer and he said, Evan, you have to be able to turn on your frost machine or your frost protection like you turn on your irrigation,”
On Monday night, Schutt’s ran frost protection machines for nearly nine hours.
“It blows hot air underneath. Warms the flowers so they don’t obviously dip below because at 25 and 26 degrees things would have died really, really quickly,” said Schutt.
Schutt said they can estimate some of the loss right now by cutting open the flowers. If the inside is brown, that flower is lost. Green means it survived.
The cold temperatures are expected to last through the weekend.
“Honestly, I’m not going to lie I’m concerned,” said Schutt. “We’re hoping that, you know, it’s how long it’s cold, that all factors into it, how well it settles. We’re hoping it won’t have that much of an impact.”
Schutt said he expects some loss every year, but it’s hard to swallow. He said the farm can lose some flowers and still have a great crop. Cherries and peaches, which are stone fruit varieties, are really affected by frost. Those seem to have come through the frost though.
The weather impacts not only how much fruit the farm will harvest but also the flavor of the apples and other fruit.
What’s happening now won’t impact what’s on the shelves today. It will impact how many apples there are this fall during peak apple season.
“I think we’re going to be okay. But it’s a long road right there. From now until September, there could be hail storms. There could be droughts. And we’ll do the best we can. So this is just one stage. We hope for the best. And every year seems to have its challenges, but we end up being okay,” Schutt said.
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