A cold spell has cherry growers on alert since an overnight frost caused some damage.
SUTTONS BAY -- With more than 2,000 acres of cherry trees at Cherry Bay Orchards in Suttons Bay, making sure conditions are just right for the crop is crucial.
That's why a spring frost that touched the area overnight, has growers on alert.
"Those cherries that are in lower areas we probably did experience some damage during the last night....As we've looked at a few of the buds this morning we can see a little bit of a brown starting to show up," says Cherry Bay Orchards president, Don Gregory.
Gregory says some parts of the orchards had temperatures as low as 23 degrees Sunday night, causing staff to use giant mechanical fans to move colder air away from the cherry crops.
"Temperatures like that will kill the buds at this stage in the game, so we try to move the air around and try to mix up the warmer air above to see if we can save some of the crop...If we can keep moving the air out of there through a natural drainage and keep the temperature just a half degree sometimes makes a difference whether cherries are going to freeze or not," says Gregory.
Gregory says the cherry orchards didn't receive a significant amount of damage from the frost, but if temperatures drop again tonight, that could be a different story.
"I expect that we've seen some damage in this orchard, not enough that it's going to make a significant difference. If we have another cold night tonight and temps get a little colder than they did last night, then we'll see more damage," says Gregory.
Gregory says as long as the cherry crop gets plenty of moisture for the remainder of the spring and frost stays away, they should be on track for the July harvest.
