North Carolina Apple Growers Look Ahead After Hurricane Helene
When Terry Kelley was able to get out and about in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the analytical part of his brain was busy examining and cataloging the devastation wreaked by the terrible storm. Kelley is the Director of the NC State Extension Center in Henderson County, and the tree fruit agent. North Carolina is No. 7 in the nation in apple production and about 85% of the state’s apples are produced in the county, so it was critical to assess the damage and determine how he could best help area growers.
Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina in late September, bringing record rainfall, historic levels of flooding, and tens of billions of dollars in damage. Roads were washed out, and homes were destroyed. The combination of strong winds and heavy rains toppled trees and power lines. The apple crop was not spared from Helene’s destruction.
“We lost trees in some places, and had a lot of apples blown off,” Kelley says. “We probably lost 20% to 30% of the overall crop. Some growers lost product that had already been harvested because the power to their coolers went out. We had several thousand bushels lost from that.”
The storm’s timing couldn’t have been worse. Not only was a significant portion of the season’s harvest lost, but damaged roads and dangerous conditions impacted the ability to sell what had been picked.
“Our direct markets that sell from roadside stands have basically 12 weeks to make whatever money they’re going to make during the year,” Kelley says. “Some of them lost three of the peak weeks. You take the last week in September and the first couple of weeks in October, you’re talking about lots of tourists here going to a lot of those apple stands. They lost a significant portion of their sales.”
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In the aftermath of the storm, the main task was to connect growers who suffered major losses with entities that could provide immediate relief. Kelley and other Extension experts gathered information on crop loss and damage to land and infrastructure on farms, and submitted that information to state and federal authorities.
“Some of these losses will be covered by programs that are already in place. Some growers will have insurance that will cover some of the losses,” Kelley adds. “We’re trying to bridge that gap.”
While such programs can help in the short-term, full recovery from the hurricane is much more of a long-term issue. It takes five to seven years for an apple tree to reach maturity and full production.
“This is going to be a multi-year loss,” Kelley says. “We lost a lot of trees that were at maturity and some of them probably had another 10 to 15 good years of harvest in them.”
In North Carolina, crop loss because of fallen trees is estimated to be closer to 10% next year so production will be closer to normal levels. But a 10% loss is still significant for growers who operate on slim profit margins, and it will be worse for those who lost entire orchards. Some producers might never recover from Helene.
“I think there’s a distinct possibility of that, particularly some of the smaller and mid-sized growers,” Kelley concludes. “And some of the older growers might just say, ‘I don’t have enough time left to get things back up to where I want them to be and I’m just going to give it up at this point.’ When we go into next spring, there’s a good chance we’ll have a few less growers than we started with this spring.”
For more, continue reading at ces.ncsu.edu.
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