BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. (WNDU) A story we've been following since cold overnight temperatures damaged crops at many fruit farms in Michigan on May 8th.
16 News Now learned why it doesn't take long for farmers to see the full extent of the damages.
This is what the apple blossoms at Hildebrand fruit farms looked like a little more than a week ago, hours before the freeze warning.
Now they look much different.
"When we had the freeze, these apple were just starting to show some pink petals and the cluster of apples were still really tight. Now, obviously the blossoms are spread open, this king bloom is far past opening and pollination. So a lot can happen in a week," said Hildebrand Fruit Farms owner Mike Hildebrand.
Just a couple days ago, it was difficult for farmers to find out just how many blossoms were damaged by the freeze. Now, just a few days later--these blooms--they speak for themselves.
"The king bloom appears to be damaged. It's very dark on the inside. I'm sure if I cut it open, the pistil is black inside. But if you look at the side blooms, especially this one, it's very green inside. The pollen all looks viable," Hildebrand said.
Now Hildebrand says he can just look at the open blossoms to tell if they froze, instead of having to cut them open.
He can also check the base of the tree because damaged blossoms eventually fall of their branches.
"I believe on our farm a full crop is a potential this year. Now I heard other areas of the state got more damage. Watervliet, Bainbridge, Hartford area. It got colder there," he said.
Some farms hurt more than others and there's still more to learn about the scope of the damage over the next 30 days.
While bees might have found shelter from the rain today, Hildebrand says pollination is the next step in the process of going from flower to fruit.
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May 18, 2020 at 08:36AM
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Fruit farmers getting a better look at crop damage after blossoms open up - WNDU-TV
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