Current State of our Apple Harvest

Apple harvests across the country are taking a tremendous beating as their ideal growing climate is going through extreme weather conditions never before seen at this severity. Apple blossoms are very delicate and they are grown in some of the most prone areas to late frosts. Apples are primarily grown in the Northeast, Minnesota, and the Pacific Northwest. The midwest has been hit with the harshest winters and historic flooding, a recipe for disaster for the apple harvest. Climate change has drastically dropped the amount of produce in the stores and growers have been forces to cross new species to try to help them resist the weather, but the problem is the weather is so inconsistent that it has become difficult to decide what type of weather to breed more resistance to.as a result of the climate change we are currently facing as a result of all the greenhouse gases we emit through burning fossil fuels and many of us driving gasoline powered automobiles everyday. This is changing the climates of areas and putting stress on farmers from all over. The unpredictability of this weather has caused warm periods followed by frosts and extreme drought both of which are extremely harmful to the yield of the crop. More and more years with those incidents continue to occur severely hurting our growers and their livelihood. Once a bud opens on a fruit tree it is very vulnerable to cold temperature. Every bud a tree loses means another fruit that is lost, after a while those begin to add up and substantial profits begin to be lost.

Apple blossoms are very delicate and they are grown in some of the most prone areas to late frosts. Apples are primarily grown in the Northeast, Minnesota, and the Pacific Northwest. The midwest has been hit with the harshest winters and historic flooding, a recipe for disaster for the apple harvest. Climate change has drastically dropped the amount of produce in the stores and growers have been forces to cross new species to try to help them resist the weather, but the problem is the weather is so inconsistent that it has become difficult to decide what type of weather to breed more resistance to.