By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan correspondent

STANTON, Mich. — Fruit growers are feeling the effects of Michigan’s unusual weather this year.

Temperatures that dipped to -20 degrees for a few days in January and February are being blamed for nipping the area’s stone fruit crop, leaving some growers with little or no peaches, nectarines or apricots this summer, while a late spring frost followed by hot, dry weather this summer is taking its toll on strawberries and apples.

“We lost all of our peaches, nectarines, apricots and sweet cherries to something that happened in the middle of winter,” said Sidney-area fruit and vegetable grower Elaine Muilenburg. “In January and February, it warmed up a little and then it got really cold. That’s what got our trees.”

Muilenburg added she’ll be lucky to have a bushel of peaches for her own family to eat. “We lost everything,” she said.

She said her strawberry crop wasn’t much better this year.

“This is my first year out of 10 with strawberries that was absolutely miserable,” she said. “I didn’t have irrigation up for the (late spring) frost. Then we came into this drought.”

While some of Michigan has had adequate rainfall throughout the growing season, much of western Michigan – especially Montcalm County, where Muilenburg’s farm is located – has not had any significant rainfall since April. The last measurable rainfall was an inch or less at the beginning of June, according to the National Weather Service. The area is headed toward drought conditions.
Like many farmers, Muilenburg and her husband, Jon, have been irrigating their 100-acre farm, which includes about 80 acres of Christmas trees.

“We would need a week of rain right now (in order to shut off the irrigation),” she said.

Terry Anderson, owner of Anderson & Girls Orchard near Stanton, about five miles from the Muilenburgs, said his peaches “are really thin.” He estimated his peach crop will weigh in at 40-50 percent of last year’s crop.

“We had 14 below zero two different nights this winter. That’s what got the peaches. Twenty below will kill the trees,” Anderson said. “The only guys I’ve talked to that have a nice crop of peaches are up by Ludington.

“Right now we’re trying to keep water on our strawberries. We haven’t had time to keep water on anything else.”

Anderson said his strawberries have been good quality, but the size is “off” this year. “I think with all the hot weather, the size went down on them faster than it usually does,” he said.

Both Anderson and Muilenburg said their apple crops “look good.”
“Our apples are doing great here,” Muilenburg said.
She’s also optimistic about her raspberries.

“We’ve been watering them, and they’re absolutely great,” she said.

“We’ve got a nice crop of apples on most varieties,” Anderson said. “Some varieties are a little thin, but overall, the apples are pretty good.”
Anderson said growers in southern Michigan were hurt worse by April snowstorms “because they were farther advanced than we were.” However, a June 2 rainstorm hit part of Anderson’s farm with hail, and damaged several acres of apples.

“We got beat up pretty bad on one of our farms,” he said. “Those are just juice apples now.”