NJ Farms Struggling As Weather Freeze, Soggy Weekends Impact Fall Activities

New Jersey farmers are struggling. They are being hit with a double whammy this year. The first was a late-April freeze that damaged fruit crops across most of New Jersey. And now rainy weekends are impacting agritourism to the farms for pick-your-own fall festivities.

Spring Freeze

Brian J. Schilling, director of Rutgers Cooperative Extension and senior associate director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, told Patch that the freeze hit around April 19, 21 and 22, after temperatures had climbed into the low 90s in the days before it.

Alstede Farms Owner Kurt Alstede in Chester said the April freeze was a "death sentence."

"That fourth night was the one that everything was destroyed," said Alstede.

He said temperatures at the farm dropped as low as 21 degrees.

"We lost all of our nectarines, peaches. We had about a 25 percent crop, and apples. I would say that we have roughly a 40 percent crop," said Alstede.

Alstede has been farming for 45 years and said he has never seen anything this extreme as far as a weather freeze.

"Sadly, this event that occurred on April 20th was beyond extreme. If you ask me, 45 years of farming, have I ever seen anything like this? And the answer is no," said Alstede.

John Melick of Melick Town Farm in Hunterdon County said his family has been growing apples for generations and that he is part of the farm's 10th generation.

"This one was pretty substantial. It's right up there, top three, definitely in my lifetime," he said of the April freeze event.

Schilling said many fruit crops were in full bloom or just past that stage when temperatures dropped into the low and mid-20s for hours.

"We called it weather whiplash," Schilling said.

He said the event was unusual because it was both severe and widespread.

"Normally, you might see one crop at a certain stage of development get some freeze or frost damage in a certain part of the state," Schilling said. "This was across most of our fruit crops, and across almost the entirety of the state, except for a little part of Cape May."

Conventional frost protection methods did not do enough, he said.

Farmers may use burn pots, frost candles, wind machines or irrigation equipment that acts as mobile heaters, but "It was just too cold for too long, so these conventional frost protection methods really didn't help," Schilling said.

Rutgers’ early assessments found steep losses in several crops.

Schilling said apples were initially estimated at 60 to 70 percent or more crop loss.

Blueberries were about 50 percent. Cherries were 90 to 100 percent. Peaches were 90 percent or more. Wine grapes were estimated at at least 70 percent.

"All told, the estimate that I put together economically was somewhere between $135 and $170 million in just crop loss," Schilling said.

The effects also reach beyond the orchard rows.

Fall Impact

Schilling said apples help draw visitors to fall agritourism activities like pick-your-own trips, hay rides and farm markets, where customers may also buy pies and other goods.

"That's one of the concerns that some of the growers are certainly experiencing," he said when asked about reduced farm traffic.

Melick said the farm lost about 70 percent of its apple and peach crops.

However, Melick's Farm remains open for pick-your-own apples at both of its farms, but the harvest is smaller than usual as the fall season continues.

Instead of harvesting more apples for other uses, Melick said the farm is keeping fruit on the trees for visitors to pick themselves.

Rainy weekends have also created another challenge during a key stretch of the season.

Melick said poor weekend weather has affected agritourism and reduced the number of customers coming out to the farm, which also hurts sales of other products people often buy during apple-picking trips.

"I would say the rainy weekends are just as big of an impact as the freeze because you know it's probably one of the worst Septembers we've ever had," said Melick. "We had so many rainy Sundays and some Saturdays. So that really hurts. Nobody comes out."

Alstede Farm still has apples for visitors, but Alstede said supply will not last as long as in a typical year.

"At some point we’re going to run out, right?" he said.

To preserve apples for public pick-your-own visits, he said the farm decided not to open apple picking to school tours this year.

Students visiting the farm instead have been picking pumpkins and vegetables, according to Alstede.

Overall, Schilling said most trees and bushes are expected to survive, though some wine grape growers may have lost vines. The larger concern is that farms still must prune, control pests and manage weeds even in a year with little fruit revenue.

He said Rutgers is also looking at climate and weather data to help farmers assess whether these kinds of events are becoming more common and how growers might adapt.

Supporting Local Farms

In the meantime, Schilling said, "The farmers could certainly use the support."

He said local support remains important even after the growing season ends because farms will continue dealing with the financial effects of this year’s freeze into next year.

"The best way to maintain a vibrant local economy and to maintain local food supplies is to support local, true local farmers," Alstede said.

For customers visiting this fall, Melick said they may need to walk farther into the orchard to find apples because the farm has tried to leave more fruit on trees for pick-your-own guests.

Melick added that many farms may be offering other things for agricultural entertainment this year. Fall pumpkins or corn mazes are being pushed

"That's the biggest way to support them is just to still make that visit and see what they have to buy to support them even where their crop isn't substantial," said Melick.

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