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UTAH COUNTY -- For farmers, the temperatures can make or break their season. At several orchards in Utah County, farmers are now seeing the effects of all the recent cold weather.
As Curtis Rowley looked over his peach trees Friday, he couldn't help but be happy he didn't lose more to frost.
Rowley helps run Cherry Hill Farms in Santaquin. They lost a few apples and cherries because of the recent cold weather. As for peaches, Rowley thinks he lost 40 percent of them.
"We plan on losses, and that's how we plant our orchards. We have them located in specific spots so if the area freezes, we hopefully have some crops somewhere else," Rowley said.
Of course, other fruit and vegetable farms are seeing some losses as well; for example, the orchard behind the Utah County Jail. Inmates take care of it to make their own food and to donate some to food banks and senior citizen centers. The colder weather has hurt their tomatoes and peppers.
Utah State University's horticulture department in Utah County seems to have been hit the hardest because of colder temperatures.
"We had some damage, but in this area we only lost about less than 10 percent of the total plants to the cold weather," said explained Adrian Hinton. "Southern Utah County areas, the snow broke a lot of the trees, and it also was critical to some of the fruit blossoms."
That's what Rowley saw. He says when it freezes the bottoms of trees see the most damage. So to keep warmer air down, he uses a propeller system and propane to raise temperatures.
"[We] try to create any kind of heat in this orchard as we can to help," Rowley said.
But even though Rowley says his operation is about two weeks behind because of the cold weather, he says folks in Utah who love apples, peaches and cherries are still going to get them.
"They'll still have the nice, big canning peaches they're always looking for. They will be available," Rowley said.
Most fruits and vegetables will be available, as long as the warmer weather is here to stay. Fruit farmers say even with the recent colder temperatures, they don't think it will affect the timing of this year's harvest.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
