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Combat Frost
New frost prevention investments by Michigan growers paid off during the 2017 bloom-time frost.
This year’s late spring frost during full bloom in western Michigan had apple growers recalling some bad memories from 2012.
But things didn’t get that bad. Instead of another catastrophe, growers this year expect to harvest a crop at about 60 to 70 percent of normal, largely thanks to new frost-control measures.
In the past five or 10 years, Michigan growers have invested heavily in micro-sprinklers and frost fans, or wind machines, that helped them cope with a May 8 cold snap that sent temperatures plummeting and farmers scurrying.
“It’s the best investment that I’ve ever made on the farm,” said Sparta grower Patrick Goodfellow. “There’s nothing that’s made me more money than a frost fan.”
Continue reading at Good Fruit Grower's Arctic Armor Methods of Combating Frost.
