As temperatures fell below freezing this week, some West Michigan farmers are on edge as they wait and see what effect the weather had on this year’s crops. The cold weather Wednesday morning dropped down to 25 degrees in some parts of Coopersville and while temperatures should be warmer over the next few days, the blast of freezing weather may have devastating results on some West Michigan farmers.
To make matters worse, according to data reported from Michigan State University, this year’s budding crops are two weeks ahead of schedule, due to the unseasonably mild temperatures earlier this month.
“So the spring is definitely ahead of schedule, it has warmed up early, the soil has warmed up early, what’s blooming--it all indicates that the spring is early.”
Greg Dunn is the owner of Blackbird Farms. He says while his farm grows mostly vegetables and soil based crops, it’s the local apple tree growers that the freeze could potentially have the biggest effect on.
“When it gets down to 25, that is a hard freeze, and it stayed down there for a significant period of time,” Dunn said. “So there is a good chance of things being killed off. I know that the fruit growers are very anxious, because many of the fruit trees were starting to blossom, and the frost can literally nip their fruit crop in the bud.”
Meanwhile, it could take up to a week to determine what damage has been done to area farms, however some good news as the National Weather Service predicts temps to reach up to 77 degrees this Tuesday in Coopersville.