Cold Winter Took Bite Out Of Minnesota Apple Crop
January 14, 2015 During the Minnesota Apple Growers Association convention in LaCrosse, MN, David Bedford, a research scientist with the University of Minnesota reported on how the sub-zero temperatures affected the state’s apple crop, reports the LaCrosse Tribune.
Bedford told attendees that the temperatures seemed to affect Honeycrisp, Fireside, and Sweet 16 the most and there was little to no injury on Zestar and SweeTango.
Last winter’s temperatures were only part of the picture, said Bedford.
“Two of the things that come to mind for me are the drought conditions we had in 2013. We did have a little break in that in the fall, so it wasn’t total disaster,” he said. “But that fact is, many of those trees went into the winter in varying degrees of moisture stress, and that’s the first factor that we consider (that gives) the ability to fight off the winter cold.”
The 2013 season was late-ripening, which was also a factor.
“That in itself isn’t a direct problem, but it’s a measure of the fact that those trees didn’t fully go through all of their acclimation process,” he said, “so I think we were sort of set up for some problems. Those problems would all be just fine had we had a normal winter.”
Dormancy was also affected by temperature fluctuations experienced throughout the state. Bedford said the temperature on Dec. 28, 2013, at the Minneapolis airport was a record-setting 47 degrees, but only 10 days later, the temperature dropped to a minus 26 degrees at the University of Minnesota’s research center. Twelve days after that, the temperature was back to 37.
“Ten days between 47 and minus 26 is not the kind of pattern we like to see,” Bedford said. “That’s very hard to breed for. We breed for that mid-winter heartiness, but it’s really hard to breed for this kind of roller coaster.”
Source: LaCrosse Tribune
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