Freeze!

 

Some crops better than first thought

 

By CHRIS ALDRIDGE, Kentucky Agricultural News

 

An extended freeze in early April may not hurt Kentucky winter wheat producers as much as what was first expected, according to recent reports from farmers.

 

In late April, freeze damage to the wheat crop was estimated at up to $63 million, according to the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture and the Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association.

 

John Strang, Extension horticulturist with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, examines freeze-damaged berry vines at the UK Horticulture Research Farm in Lexington. (Photo by A. Nielson - University of Kentucky Agriculture Communications)

 

But Logan County wheat farmer Don Halcomb said the damage “is not nearly as much as I anticipated.” He said his 600-acre crop is yielding more than double what he expected. He destroyed 400 acres of wheat following the freeze.

 

“I really thought I’d get 30 [bushels per acre],” Halcomb said in mid-June. “Two-thirds through the harvest, it looks like I’m averaging in the 60s.”

 

Halcomb, whose normal yield is 75 to 80 bushels per acre, credited the hot, dry weather in May for salvaging his wheat crop. He said other wheat producers he’s talked to in his area are reporting similar positive results. “The lack of rainfall actually helped the quality,” Halcomb said.      

     

“Preliminary reports on wheat harvested for grain are much better than expected,” said Chad Lee, assistant Extension professor for grain crops. “We have reports of wheat fields averaging 50 bushels an acre. What we don’t know is if these are the ‘good’ fields or are actually the average of the fields remaining.”

 

About 420,000 acres of winter wheat were planted in Kentucky last fall, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

The USDA declared Kentucky an agricultural disaster area in June after sustained sub-freezing temperatures on April 5-10 severely damaged crops. Fruit was particularly hard hit after unseasonably warm weather in late March caused fruit trees to bud early, particularly in southern and western Kentucky. Then the freeze zapped the tender blossoms.

 

“The freeze was not quite as bad as we first thought,” said Mac Stone, director of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Value-Added Plant Production. “Grapes are the main one that fared better than we thought.”

 

Kentucky lost $16.41 million of its $19 million (retail) fruit crop due to the freeze, according to John Strang, Extension fruit and vegetable specialist. He said 95 percent of Kentucky’s apple crop was lost for an estimated economic loss of nearly $7.8 million in retail sales. The peach crop was a 98 percent loss valued at $2.74 million. Seventy percent of the strawberry crop was lost for a $2.06 million economic hit. The grape crop suffered a 60 percent loss valued at an estimated $1.49 million.

 

Fruit grower Larry Ayres, who owns Ayres Family Orchard near Owenton, said he expects to lose as much as 80 percent of his blackberries and 70 percent of his apples. “I don’t expect to make a big profit this year – in fact, I’ll probably lose a little,” said Ayres, who added that the freeze killed all of his peaches and plums, as was the case in most Kentucky orchards.

 

“In talking to other growers, the further south you go, the worse it [freeze damage] was,” he said, noting he talked to a grower in Hebron in far northern Kentucky who salvaged 60 percent of his apples. “That’s the most of anyone I’ve heard from. Ours probably weren’t as advanced in blooming as some other orchards down south were. That’s the difference.

 

“Last year was a perfect growing season,” Ayres said, “but right now drought is another problem I’m trying to contend with. It’s going to hurt my blackberry crop even more.”

 

Stone said fruit growers still have to fertilize and, possibly, water their crops.

 

“The big problem all the way around is it costs farmers the same expense to care for their plants, even though they’re not getting enough yield to pay for it,” he said. “Now irrigation may also become necessary. On the plus side, there’s probably less disease pressure with the weather being so dry.”

 

“This is a tough business,” Ayres said.

 

Apple trees at the University of Kentucky Horticulture Research Farm in Lexington were damaged in the freeze. (Photo by A. Nielson - University of Kentucky Agriculture Communications)