2020 Spring Farm Outlook

Page 24 2020 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 19, 2020 But not all of the orchards can hope for such luck. The More Than Delicious Orchard, also in Woodstock, is closing permanently. As was the case with Lang’s Orchard, the weather of the previous winter and spring damaged the orchard’s crop. According to Schaenzer’s report, “more than fifty trees died.” Apples are not the only fruit grown in Illinois. Peaches are also a common fruit grown in the state. As was the case with apples, peach farmers had a difficult time in 2019. According to a report by Scott Cousins of the Peoria Journal Star, peach growers described mixed results on 2019’s peach crops. Cousins writes that harvests were hit hard by frigid weather in January, hail in the following months, and constant flooding that came after. According to Cousins, “most of the state’s peach farmers are south of Interstate 70…The exception is Jersey, Macoupin and Calhoun Counties.” Peach farmers often struggle with cold temperatures, which are dangerous to trees and new buds alike. Last year, both the Hagen Family Orchard and Wiegel’s Orchard in Golden Eagle had no peaches to sell because of hail in June. Odelehr’s Market in Brussels had peaches from one of its two orchards, but the other was hit too hard from both hail and icy weather. Animals are also a problem for peach farmers in the state, just like with apples. Animals frequently go after peaches in the middle of the night. “Raccoons are a problem with any fruit crop,” agricultural educator Elizabeth Wahle says in the report. “Squirrels are also a big problem. They can do quite a bit of damage.” Heavy flooding throughout the year also impacted peach farmers. Some orchards stayed above the floodwaters, but some other storage sites were not. “I lost my fruit market,” says local grower Tom Ringhausen in the report. “It sits at the end of the [Joe Page] bridge.” Another common specialty crop grown throughout the state is pumpkins. According to a report by Rhiannon Branch of Brownfield News, towards the end of the 2019 season, “overall, the Illinois pumpkin crop looks good this year despite a late start.” Branch writes that pumpkin farmers expected a relatively poor crop due to a wet spring, but samples harvested for processing ended with more flesh than water because of a dryer summer. As a result, pumpkins harvested were of a higher quality than expected. “It was better than expected from the beginning. Adding to that, we usually have at least a couple of somewhat devastating diseases, but this one year of them never reached Illinois and another one we were able to control,” says Mohammad Babadoost with Continue 4