Apple growers like Lin Deardorff are unwavering optimists, accepting whatever Mother Nature dishes out. And this year, orchard owners like him are weathering the worst.
"There's never been a year quite like this one," the Waconia grower said of his 30 years in the business. "Absolutely the worst [year], none to compare."
A warm winter followed by a sudden April freeze devastated and even completely wiped out apple crops across the west metro this year. It's forced growers, now in the prime of the popular apple-picking season, to increase other orchard events and resell apples grown elsewhere in Minnesota and Wisconsin to recoup losses.
The scene is reflected nationwide after hail, spring freezes, high winds and other bad weather hammered production, sending prices up at both stores and orchards.
"The warm March weather meant that we had a lot of apples that were vulnerable to that April frost," said Paul Hugunin, coordinator of the Minnesota Grown Program at the state Agriculture Department. "In some places, that significantly reduced the amount of apples being harvested. On other farms, it didn't have as big of an impact. So it really varied from place to place."
Instead of a hail storm hitting a small area, however, the warm spring followed by a late frost affected Minnesota growers across much of the metro.
In the east metro, Washington County orchard owners lost about a third of their apple crops despite attempts to save them from the April frost, taking drastic measures such as renting helicopters to keep the air churning above and between trees, or lighting fires.
In the west metro, Deardorff used butane tanks and air blast blowers on his Waconia trees to try to circulate air. But the damage was done.
