<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%">Michigan</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">03.20.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Last year’s disastrous Michigan apple season has growers leery of weather conditions.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The third largest apple producing state suffered at the hands of a perfect storm of weather conditions last year. Trees came out of dormancy over a month early and were hit by nearly two dozen frosts. Retailers were forced to ship in apples from out of state, and costs for the fruit remain high.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/gretchenmensing_body.jpg" alt="Cropped Images 03202013" />“We lost 90 percent of our crop last year,” said Gretchen Mensing, Communications and Marketing Manager for the Michigan Apple Committee, according to MLive.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Jeff Andresen, climatologist for the state of Michigan, said that February and March have been colder than normal due to the jet stream pattern, and conditions will continue for at least two more weeks. By late spring and early summer, warmer-than-normal temperatures could occur.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"The key is how rapidly the trees come out of their dormant states, and how many freeze events we might experience once that happens. Fruit growers know this because Michigan has produced fruit commercially over 150 years, so we have a long track record,” he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">It affected all fruit tree crops and juice grapes, including the huge cherry crop. Growers like Jasinowski lost 100 percent of his crop.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Ed Jasinowski, Owner of Sweet Season Orchard, said he hopes it stays on the colder side until the first of May, when apple blossoms are supposed to appear. He lost 100 percent of his crop last season.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">There is, however, one potentially positive side effect to last year’s devastation.<img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/hl_michigan_apple_shortage_BODY2.jpg" alt="Cropped Images 03202013" />“We will have well-rested trees,” Mensing said. “That means our trees have been storing energy normally used for a crop and we could actually have a really large crop this year because a year of rest.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2013/03/jackson-area_apple_grower_keep.html" target="_new">Michigan Apple Update </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
