Cold Snap Pt 2
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. If you’re old enough to remember OLD Saturday Night Live shows, you have to wonder, was Gilda Radner’s classic character Rosanne Rosanadana really a farmer at heart …
ROSANADANA … “It just goes to show you, it’s always something. If it’s not one thing it’s another.”
Washington Tree Fruit Association’s Tim Kovis says the recent snow and sub-freezing temps were just the latest example of that …
KOVIS … “Our members know that each growing season is different. You know, last year we dealt with some early high heat that we don’t typically get. This year we experienced a late frost and freeze condition.”
But, Kovis says there’s ways to deal with this …
KOVIS … “Growers invest in a number of different frost protection tools. One being wind machines. And a lot of those tools were being used and, are still being used, as temperatures are still getting down into the low 30s. But yeah, those wind machines are working overtime.”
But hey, that’s why they got them …
KOVIS … “Nothing is taken for granted and as our members well know, there’s only certain things you can control. Weather is not one. So, you get thrown the weather you’re going to get and you have to respond with the tools you have.”
And so, Kovis says as we move forward …
KOVIS … “Folks will have a better idea of what their orchards look like and what they really think they’ll be able to produce. And, unfortunately, some folks will ride this wave a little bit better than others.”
Kovis says only time will tell.
