According to estimates from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and Penn State Extension, losses range from 70% to 90% for apples, 90% to 100% for peaches, nectarines, and apricots, 60% to 80% for European pears, and up to 95% to 100% for cherries and plums.
Early estimates place total losses to the state’s specialty crop sector between US$150 million and US$200 million.
Pennsylvania is a major producer of apples, peaches, grapes, cherries, and strawberries in the United States.
Daniel Weber, horticulture educator with Penn State Extension’s commercial tree fruit team, said many growers are facing losses not seen in decades. One Franklin County grower had expected more than 400 young plum trees to produce their first commercial crop this season before the freeze destroyed the fruit.
At Ridgetop Orchards in Bedford County, co-owner Mark Boyer said no cherries or peaches remained across around 8 hectares of cherries and nearly 7 hectares of peaches. Apple losses across the orchard’s 182 hectares vary by variety, with some surviving fruit still showing internal freeze damage.
“One of the things people get wrong all the time is they say, ‘Well, the trees will bloom again, right?'” Boyer said. “Well, that’s next year.”
Weber said temperatures of 29°F (-1.7°C) or lower for even short periods can destroy developing fruit during bloom.
“It’s not like a hurricane, flood or blizzard,” Weber said. “It got cold for a couple hours.”
Penn State Extension educators are currently assisting growers with crop assessments, orchard management decisions, and reporting losses to state and federal authorities as Pennsylvania seeks disaster assistance.
Growers are also evaluating whether damaged crops should be harvested for processing or abandoned to reduce costs related to pesticides and labour.
“All those management decisions cost money,” Weber said. “Growers are asking, ‘How much is too much to spend if I’m not going to make a single dollar off the crop?'”
According to extension staff, smaller orchards and newer growers may face additional pressure, particularly farms operating without crop insurance or government support programs.
The freeze also affected nursery operations, Christmas tree farms, and vegetable production across the state.
Penn State Extension said reduced production is expected to affect packers, processors, wholesalers, seasonal labour, and retail supply chains across the eastern U.S. fruit-growing region.
Source: Fresh Plaza
