Eastern Iowa farmers assess damage after late spring cold snap
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Between April 20 and 22, temperatures dipped into the 20 s, destroying some crops and sparring others.
At Buffalo Ridge Orchard, just outside of Central City, they lost between 30 and 50% of their apple crop. They are planting others crops like carrots and potatoes to offset some of the losses.
It is a feeling Will Lorentzen and Adrian White, who run Jupiter Ridge Farm near Garber know well. Last year, we had no Apple crop because of that weather pattern, Lorentzen said.
Lorentzen calls it the fools spring. When you think everything is ready and all the home gardeners start setting out all their tomatoes, everyone gets too excited too soon, he said. Then you get the late frost.
Courtesy of Will Lorentzen and Adrian White
Originally published on April 26, 2021 5:07 pm
As farmers across the Midwest surveyed the damage from last week’s cold snap, some Iowa farmers discovered they lucked out, while others are hoping to offset losses.
Temperatures last week dropped into the 20s on the mornings of April 20 to 22 across Iowa. To prepare for the colder temperatures, Will Lorentzen and Adrian White of Jupiter Ridge Farm near Garber in northeast Iowa harvested 80 pounds of rhubarb early. They called it a hard pick.
“It was a decision to hedge our bets,” Lorentzen said.
They said they still left some rhubarb out in the cold. White said rhubarb is pretty cold tolerant, but if it gets frost, it’s not as “desirable for sale.”