Traverse City Record-Eagle

Region

May 11, 2010

Frost keeps nipping at fruit

BY LINDSAY VANHULLE and BILL O'BRIEN ----

SUTTONS BAY — At first glance, the vineyards at Shady Lane Cellars in Suttons Bay looked devastated.

A layer of frost coated the grapevines early Monday after subfreezing temperatures overnight, and Jay Briggs worried the season's crop was ruined.

Some pockets, especially in lower-lying areas, likely will experience some frost damage, said Briggs, Shady Lane's vineyard manager. But an afternoon walk turned up fewer problems than he expected.

Some frost-damaged sections could take longer to recover, Briggs said, and he hopes some of the later blooms were protected.

"It looks like we might have dodged a cannonball, not even a bullet," he said. "What looked catastrophic at 7 o'clock this morning, by noon we're not looking that bad."

Temperatures in much of northern Michigan dropped below freezing Sunday night, leading to frost patches in some areas. Traverse City recorded 27 degrees at Cherry Capital Airport on Monday morning, said Kevin Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord.

Beulah hit 29 degrees, Northport 28 and Ellsworth 24.

The volatile temperatures recorded this spring in northern Michigan are making for some sleepless nights in the region's agriculture community. A rapid snowmelt in March followed by an early warm snap moved the growing season ahead of normal, making the typical late-spring frosts more damaging than usual.

"This has been one of the worst (springs) ever," said John King, whose family farms 300 acres of fruit around the Central Lake area in Antrim County. "There's definitely some damage ... I don't know yet how extensive it is."

King said he noted some early damage to his tart and sweet cherry crop, and the more-recent frosts impacted the apple crop. He said the damage hasn't wiped out the region's fruit crop, but it likely will hurt yields at harvest time.

"We'll definitely have a crop," King said. "It may not be as much as we'd like, but we'll still have fruit."

Nights in the region should be warmer this week as clouds and rain move in, Sullivan said. Another frost could occur before the end of the month.

"It got really warm too early," Sullivan said. "Then we got this shot of cold weather, which is not uncommon."

Nikki Rothwell, director of the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station in Leelanau County, said she noticed frost damage to apples.

"The trees themselves, they're hearty enough," said Rothwell, who anticipates a lighter crop could occur this year. "It's not a disaster."

Text Only

Latest News
Life

Sports

Business

Record-Eagle+
Unlimited access to Record-Eagle.com
 Subscribe Sign In