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"It's a little too early to tell," said Bernie Buehler, operator of Leidel's Apples in La Crescent, Minn., who recorded 28 degrees on the ridge where his orchards are located. It dipped to 23 degrees at his home in La Crescent, he said.
The cold came with his trees in full, heavy bloom, Buehler said. But he still was optimistic. "This could be nature's way of thinning for us," he said, "and we could have a bumper crop."
Dan Baumgardt, a meteorologist with the La Crosse Weather Service, said lows ranged from 21 in the Sparta, Wis., area to 28 degrees in Austin, Minn. The temperature at the La Crosse Municipal Airport was 27 degrees.
Another cold night was expected late Tuesday and into early today, with 32 degrees predicted for La Crosse and possibly even lower in surrounding areas, Baumgardt said.
Ralph Yates, manager of Fruit Acres Orchards, also on the ridge near La Crescent, said his thermometer registered 26 degrees. "Anytime you get below 28 (degrees), there's going to be a percentage of damage," Yates said, but like Buehler, added it could prove to be minimal.
Harry Hoch of Hoch's Orchard and Gardens, on the ridge near Nodine, Minn., said he was concerned about damage because he has quite a few early varieties of apples, which are more susceptible to frost because they are further along in development.
"I can see even the petals are
wilting on those," he said, adding that he had a reading of 26 degrees overnight.
Hoch said he set fire to some brush piles near some of his more valuable varieties to try to contain the frost damage. The fires don't warm the air but "create hot spots that push the air straight up," he said.
Tom Bork, general manager of Sacia's Orchards in Galesville, Wis., said at least some blossom damage is bound to have occurred after going down to 24 degrees.
"We froze the same time last year, and it cost us about 30 percent of our crop," Bork said.
But Bork added the damage is likely to be less this year because the recent cold spell had slowed the bloom. "We'd have been in full bloom or past if we'd had normal weather conditions," he said.
Variables such as time of bloom, variety of apple and where the orchard is located all can factor into how a frost affects an apple crop, Bork and the other growers said.
"McIntosh and Cortland would be hardest hit because they're the earliest blooming," Bork said.
Orchards located in higher areas, such as the ridge tops, usually get less damage than those in valleys because temperatures become colder in low-lying areas, the growers said.
Frost is always a concern at this time of the year, they said.
"It's humbling," Bork said. "I've seen frost almost every year. At some point in time, you've just got to hope for the best."
Gayda Hollnagel can be reached at ghollnagel@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8224.
