This summer, for the first time that any of Harvard’s orchardists can remember, there will be no peaches in their orchards. The unusually warm weather at the beginning of February caused the trees to come out of dormancy early, and the bitter cold that followed on Valentine’s Day weekend killed most of the delicate buds. Carlson Orchards, Westward Orchards, and Doe Orchards all report that their 2016 peach and nectarine crops were lost, and there will be some damage to the apple and pear crops as well. In addition, all of the orchard owners reported that they are keeping their fingers crossed for their blueberry crop, which is more difficult to assess at this stage of berry development.
Frank Carlson examines buds on a peach tree. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
“It was an easy and pleasant winter that we are definitely going to pay for,” said Doe Orchards owner Pam Lawson. She explained that the orchard’s peach crop was doomed in mid-February when the temperature dipped to about 12 below zero. Frank Carlson of Carlson Orchards reported much the same, saying that a temperature of minus 17 at his orchard on Feb. 13 did in the peaches. At Westward Orchards, Chris Green said that while most of the peach damage happened that mid-February weekend, there were still a few peach buds that had a “glimmer of hope” in March. But when the temperature dropped to 18 on April 4, that finished them off,” said Green.
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Green and Carlson said that the story is the same in much of the northeastern United States. They’ve spoken with farmers in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, and all of them said that their peach and nectarine crops were lost, some in February and some during the first few days of April. Online newspapers from all around the Northeast confirm the loss, and the Associated Press reported peach damage as far south as South Carolina from last week’s cold spell.
During an interview, Carlson showed an up-close view of a damaged peach bud. He used a razor blade to cut into a White Lady peach tree bud, and the normally green interior was brown and dry. The middle, which produces the flower and fruit, was black. A few more cut buds revealed the same dismal picture—the inside of the bud was dead, which means no peaches. Green said that all the peach buds are falling off the trees.
Carlson, Lawson, and Green said that there is some amount of damage to their apple crops, but it’s too soon to tell how much. The timing of the damage is different from that of the peach crop. Carlson said that after three days in March near 70 degrees, the apple buds “started moving.” Lawson said the same and added that the buds were almost a month ahead of their normal schedule. By early April, green leaves had already begun to emerge from the buds. As the buds develop, their tolerance to cold decreases, so when the temperature dropped to 18 degrees on April 4, some buds were damaged.
A black center in this peach bud is evidence that the king blossom has frozen and died.
The apple-bud damage ranges from burned leaves to damage inside the buds. Inside the bud, there are multiple “blooms” that become flowers and eventually fruit. The center bloom is called the “king bloom,” and it typically produces the largest fruit. As Carlson cut open some apple buds, he pointed out that some of the king blooms were black, and some of the side blooms were brown, indicating that those blooms froze. Some of the buds that Carlson cut had normal green blooms, evidence that the entire apple crop was not damaged.
Wait and see
Carlson said that some of the partially damaged buds may open and flower, but the pollen may not be attractive to the bees that are brought in to pollinate the apple crop. Some may not open at all, and some of the injured buds may produce smaller or misshapen fruit. He added that he doesn’t know yet if the burned leaves will be a problem, but when the bud opens, the leaves begin generating nutrition, so that could have an effect on the fruit. “We’ve got to play it by ear from now to the middle of summer,” he said.
The loss of the entire peach crop is not something that Lawson, Green, and Carlson remember happening before. And this year’s “double whammy,” with one crop totally destroyed and another crop damaged, will be particularly hard on the orchards. Carlson said that peaches constitute one-third of his business, Green said that they are about 15 percent of Westward’s business, and Lawson said that 10 percent of Doe’s business is peaches.
While Westward, Carlson, and Doe Orchards all carry insurance, it pays only for a percentage of a lost crop, typically 50 to 75 percent. Carlson said that his insurance might pay for this year’s pruning, but it won’t cover the spraying, which still needs to be done on all of the trees regardless of the viability of the crop. “You never come out whole,” said Carlson.
