Despite Frost, Fruit Crops in Good Shape
Published: Friday, April 24, 2026
Tree fruit crops should survive this week's cold snap in good shape, according to one Goshen orchard owner.
Maureen Kercher, co-owner of Kercher's Sunrise Orchard, said Monday morning's frost isn't expected to cause major damage to the farm's apple and peach crops.
"We feel like there was probably a little bit of damage done on the blooms that were open, but the blooms that were still closed are fine," Kercher said, referring to apple blooms.
The buds were at different stages of opening, she said, when the thermometer reached 28 degrees F early Monday morning. Each bud contains five clusters of blooms.
"Out of each cluster we only really need one apple to set," she said. "We're pretty confident that we'll have a nice crop of apples."
Peaches were in full bloom last week. Fortunately, Kercher said they are "spring hardy," meaning peaches can tolerate low temperatures better than other fruit crops.
At the Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center in Benton Harbor, Dan Dick, Extension tree fruit specialist, said crop development is ahead of schedule by about one to two weeks. Cherries and peaches were all in full bloom last week. Apricots and plums have already finished blooming.
The apple crop was about a week or two away from full bloom, he said.
An early maturing fruit crop runs the risk of damage due to frost exposure, but if the weather cooperates, then growers can start harvesting earlier.
Dick said all the major fruit crops in Southwest Michigan escaped winter injury.
"We're looking forward to a good crop," he said.
As the weather warms up, Dick said growers will have to keep an eye out for diseases. Wet weather increases the chances of bacterial and fungal diseases entering the tissue of fruit trees.
"We've been getting hit with a faster growth rate for the tissues and also more rain, so they kind of coincide with a higher disease pressure for the season," he said.
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