A late-season frost last week has impacted the strawberry crop at some Northern New York orchards.Rulfs Orchard in Peru lost 30% of their strawberry crop. Strawberry plants are closest to the ground and close to full growth this time of year, making them more vulnerable to colder temperatures compared to blueberry bushes and apple trees, which sit higher up from the surface. “The berries are not going to be big this year like last year,” said Paul Fisher of Rulfs Orchard. “Everyone will need to have some patience and pick the small ones.”Fisher, who’s been maintaining the strawberry fields at Rulfs for 27 years, said this is the worst loss he’s seen in his time there. Champlain Valley Agronomic isn’t surprised that some orchards are reporting strawberry damage. The agricultural consulting firm out of Peru works with businesses throughout New York, like Rulfs, in areas like crop production, precision planting and nutrient management.”All of those early bearers were well enough along in their maturation that the majority of that fruit got burned pretty badly,” said Eric Bever, senior agronomist at Champlain Valley Agronomics. “There’s still going to be harvestable fruit there, it’s just not going to be the volume we saw last year because we did not see the freeze event.”Due to elevations and locations, the impacts of a frost on produce can be different for every orchard or garden. Both Fisher and Bever encourage people to call their local orchards where they normally pick fruit to get a more accurate idea about what they may see when they head out to the fields.
A late-season frost last week has impacted the strawberry crop at some Northern New York orchards.
Rulfs Orchard in Peru lost 30% of their strawberry crop. Strawberry plants are closest to the ground and close to full growth this time of year, making them more vulnerable to colder temperatures compared to blueberry bushes and apple trees, which sit higher up from the surface.
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“The berries are not going to be big this year like last year,” said Paul Fisher of Rulfs Orchard. “Everyone will need to have some patience and pick the small ones.”
Fisher, who’s been maintaining the strawberry fields at Rulfs for 27 years, said this is the worst loss he’s seen in his time there.
Champlain Valley Agronomic isn’t surprised that some orchards are reporting strawberry damage. The agricultural consulting firm out of Peru works with businesses throughout New York, like Rulfs, in areas like crop production, precision planting and nutrient management.
“All of those early bearers were well enough along in their maturation that the majority of that fruit got burned pretty badly,” said Eric Bever, senior agronomist at Champlain Valley Agronomics. “There’s still going to be harvestable fruit there, it’s just not going to be the volume we saw last year because we did not see the freeze event.”
Due to elevations and locations, the impacts of a frost on produce can be different for every orchard or garden. Both Fisher and Bever encourage people to call their local orchards where they normally pick fruit to get a more accurate idea about what they may see when they head out to the fields.
