West Michigan fruit growers optimistic after frost scare
When West Michigan fruit growers braced for two nights of hard frost in late April, many in the industry feared a repeat of a disastrous 2012 season. And no one can really blame growers for having that notorious year stuck in the back of their mind. In 2012, an unusual weather pattern that started with 80 degree temperatures in late March was followed by a damaging frost that decimated the crop for fruit growers across the state. The weather wiped out 85 percent of Michigan’s apple crop and 90 percent of its tart cherries. Some West Michigan growers lost their entire crop that year.