Local apple growers say they may have lost half their crop to cold weather

This week, Western North Carolina may be in the grip of near-record warm temperatures. But surprise freeze-and-frost weather in April may have cost local growers half their apple crop, WLOS reports:

Rick Moss grows about 100 acres of apple trees in Edneyville and told the Asheville Citizen-Times (http://avlne.ws/IGMdZE ) he’s heard of losses between 30 percent and 50 percent.

Temperatures had dropped to 24 degrees on the night of April 10.

Henderson County is the state’s top apple-producing county, with 5,000 acres in orchards. The crop is usually valued at around $24 million.

An unusually warm March prompted trees to bloom early, leaving them vulnerable to the cold weather last month….

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About Margaret Williams
Editor Margaret Williams first wrote for Xpress in 1994. An Alabama native, she has lived in Western North Carolina since 1987 and completed her Masters of Liberal Arts & Sciences from UNC-Asheville in 2016. Follow me @mvwilliams

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