STURGEON BAY (NBC26) — No one likes waking up to a morning frost in May, especially farmers.
“All we can do is just hope for some sunshine and a little warmer temperatures," said Terry Sorenson, owner of Soren's Valhalla Orchards.
It needs to be at least 55 degrees out to pollinate cherries, and with a five-day stretch in April of overnight drops to the high teens and more frosts this week, around 20 to 30 percent of the sweet cherry crop has already been damaged, he said.
"Even our bees are taking the day off and staying in the hive," said Sorenson. "We’re used to taking those kinds of losses, the big losses. Just not so close to each other.“
One thing that has really saved him over the past few years has been a weather station, which gives him real time air temperature, rainfall and wind speed observations every day. He’s also using last year as an indicator for how this summer will go; with cherry picking being the perfect outdoor, distanced activity, orchards were more popular than ever.
“2020 was absolutely crazy for us," said Sorenson. “We were absolutely slammed. There were times where you could hardly get anyone into the orchard, so it was incredible, and we’re not expecting that to change much for this year.“
With the supply of cherries being unpredictable right now, consumers could see the price of cherries increase this summer, he said. The demand, especially for pick-your-own, will only go up too.
