Linvilla Orchards has lost nearly all of its peaches and apples after a ‘devastating’ freeze that hurt farms across the region
The Media-area farm said a heat wave followed by sub-freezing temperatures caused "tremendous damage" to its crops.
Linvilla Orchards farmer Norm Schultz had never seen anything like it.
Walking through Linvilla’s sprawling rows of fruit trees over the last few days, a grim picture began to set in. Peaches and apples were brown and black, falling off of trees at the slightest touch. At Schultz’s estimation, 60 to 90% of Linvilla’s apple crop and 90% of its peach crop had been destroyed.
The “tremendous damage” was due to an unexpected late-season freeze that swept through the Delaware Valley last month.
The National Weather Service on April 20 issued widespread freeze warnings for most of eastern Pennsylvania and all of New Jersey and Delaware. While the Philadelphia area saw a low of 34 degrees on April 21, according to NWS, temperatures dropped far below freezing at Linvilla. Schultz says one of his thermometers measured 17 degrees during the weather event.
Freezing temperatures can spur the formation of ice crystals inside plant walls and disrupt the movement of critical fluids and nutrients. Late-season freezes are particularly dangerous, as plants become more susceptible to damage the further along they are in the growing cycle.
Schultz says the April freeze caused unprecedented damage because, just days before, a slate of 80- and 90-degree days pushed his crops to bloom far beyond where they would have been during an average April.
“We had never been so far along on the bloom because of the 90-degree weather,” he said. “Then it got colder than anyone expected.”
In addition to the devastation to Linvilla’s peach and apple crops, Schultz said about half of the farm’s early-season strawberries were wiped out.
This season’s outlook is grim for the century-old family farm near Media, which welcomes Philadelphia-area residents year-round for hayrides, pick-your-own produce, shopping in the farm market, and visiting with barnyard animals. Peach and apple picking are staples during Linvilla’s summer and fall months. Peach picking typically runs from mid-June through early September on the farm.
“For a farm deeply rooted in pick-your-own traditions and seasonal harvests, the impact is both emotional and economic,” representatives from Linvilla said in a press release.
The April freeze has strained farms across Pennsylvania, from the Cumberland Valley to Northampton County to the Pittsburgh exurbs. The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is inviting farmers from across the state to share how the April freeze impacted their operations through an online survey.
Despite the setback, Schultz said the farm will “be going strong” this summer.
Vegetables such as garlic, onion, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant were largely unaffected. He’s optimistic about the raspberry and blackberry crops, as well as the later-season strawberries. Linvilla is expanding its sunflower and wildflower production to make up for the fruit losses.
In other years, Schultz said, neighboring farms have helped each other out with stocking inventory when one has a tough season. This year, they’re all struggling.
“Usually we try to keep it local,” he said. “But there isn’t going to be a lot of local.”
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