WELL OVER 17 INCHES TOTAL RAINFALL SO FAR IN 2017
Blessing that it is, especially after being in drought for so long, all the rain we’ve had lately could cause a whole other set of problems for Henderson County apple growers.
Jason Blackwell, who is president of Blue Ridge Apple Growers Association, said recently that the appearance and price of apples and other crops could take a hit.
Henderson County received over two full inches of rain this past Sunday alone, and the total for the year for the Asheville-Hendersonville area is now well over 17 inches. All that rain finlly got us out of a drought classification, but Blackwell says the rain could effect the color of local apples and make them unappealing to customers.
It all depends, he says, on a good spray program for local growers. The fungicides they spray on the apples can be washed off by the rain. And with many orchards in the county located on slopes, the rains delay getting back into the orchards to put more spray on them.
This can also give a harmful fungus more time to grow on the young apples.
Blackwell says if heavy rains should continue to occur, about 50 orchards in the county could be affected. It all depends, he says, on how quickly growers can get back in to spray the apples.
Local growers without a good spray program, he says, could end up with a less than appealing product.
In spite of the cold snap back in March, most apple varieties dodged a bullet and are developing ok. But the next worry is hail which can wipe out a whole crop, like the extensive damage done in a late season hail storm back in 2008.
Henderson County’s apple crop last year, said to be a “good crop but not a full crop, had a value placed on it of about $40 million.
