NEW MADISON, Ohio – Between weather, fuel costs and tariffs, it has been a challenging year for farmers. Yet most, like Scott Downing, of Downing Fruit Farm, and Gary Gerber, of Gerber Farms Inc., are taking it in stride, grateful for the good things on their farms, and planning for next year.

Downing is the seventh generation to farm Downing Fruit Farm; it has been in business for 188 years. They sold wholesale and retail until this year, when they got hit with a late frost and went to retail only. The stone fruits, peaches, plums, and cherries, were in full bloom, as were the early apples, when the frost hit.

“It was April 13th, or 14th, and we had a 24-degree night,” Downing said. “We lost 90 percent of the stone fruit and about 40 percent of the apple crop got hit. Some varieties of apples, we didn’t have any this year. Other varieties, the flower wasn’t open, and they made it.”

A 40 percent loss on apples is substantial, he said. Roughly 80 percent of their business is apple-related products such as apple butter and cider.

“You will never make up for loss of a fruit crop,” he explained. “In the past, we didn’t get froze out as much as we do now. I usually have peaches about one out of five years. With apples, we typically don’t get hurt. Maybe one out of 10 years, but typically you will always have at least some apples.”

To make up for the losses due to weather, about 25 years ago, Downing started putting out roughly 25 acres of produce. They also added honey and maple syrup.

“We just plan on getting froze out in fruit,” he said.

Planting that produce takes planning. He is ordering the seeds now for next year’s produce. Those seeds will need to get planted in January for planting plants in April or May.

“We plan on every year that we are going to lose our peach and cherry crop,” he said. “We just accept that. If they make it, then we have a lot of work to do because we have all of that plus the produce. I put out extra produce every year, and this year I didn’t put out enough.”

The cost of diesel fuel is not as big a problem on a fruit farm as it is on a grain farm, although it kept him from keeping the orchard as well-groomed as usual, Downing said. But it did hurt in shipping costs.

“I typically get a semi-load of cider jugs every year, and normally a semi-load is free shipping,” he said. “This year there was an $1,800 drop charge for fuel. Plus, with the tariffs on a lot of things.”

Downing had to pay tariffs on bags, boxes, jugs and containers he uses. Even if they are made in the United States, the pulp to make them comes from Canada, and there is a tariff on that pulp.

That all went with a typical run of bad luck that farmers go through sometimes. A walk-in freezer that holds 5,000 gallons of apple cider went out on Labor Day weekend.

“Usually that compressor will cost me roughly $8,000 to 10,000,” he said. “This year it cost $20,000 because of tariffs.

“It’s been a rough year, but we didn’t make it 188 years by crying about it,” he said. “We have learned how to survive. Am I buying new or upgrading equipment this year? Absolutely not. It is tight, but we’ll make it through and hopefully next year is better.”

Meanwhile, a little to the south, in Jacksonburg, Gerber is grateful for good yields on his grain and livestock operation; they have beef cattle and row crops.

“We were pretty fortunate, weather-wise,” Gerber said. “Our yields are going to end up at or above average. Our soybeans were some of the best they have ever been. We were pretty fortunate and thankful for the yields that we got.

“Corn was a little more sporadic,” he said. “We had some really good corn and some average corn. I haven’t exactly figured out why.”

Unfortunately, they don’t have much control over the diesel fuel, he said. Farming is one of the only businesses where the producers don’t dictate what they can get for their product, whether it be livestock or grain.

“You have to make your best adjustments accordingly,” Gerber said. “It has been on everybody’s mind, the added cost. I don’t know how you could even say what an average price would be, but, yes, it is well over 50 percent higher on average.”

When you’re spending that much more in fuel for working in the field and hauling, plus the everyday things like feeding and taking care of the cattle, which involved running equipment, that all adds up, Gerber said.

“That will take away from the profits, if we have profits,” he said. “There is nothing constant about it. You do your best job of marketing that you can, and you move on. I am still thankful that the yields were average to above average. So, we have the yield to market throughout the year.”

Overall, it was an OK year, Gerber said. They had a good growing season, and they did not have to replant anything after a late frost as some people did.

“At the end of the day, we are still thankful that we got the yields that we did,” he said.