Every fall across the Finger Lakes region, orchards open their doors for pick-your-own apple programs. This year things look a bit different. In May 2023, a historic frost struck much of New York, causing nearly 100% crop loss at many farms. Now as apple season begins and the annual Apple Harvest Festival approaches, local farms are still feeling the effects.

The May 18 freeze

According to NOAA online weather data, the observed temperature on May 18 was the lowest ever recorded on that date at the Cornell University weather station. Mike Basedow, tree fruit specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program, said the damaging temperatures lasted several hours and were made worse by how late in the season the frost occurred.

“We expect to really start seeing some pretty serious damage [to tree fruit buds] at 28 [degrees] for half an hour, and in a lot of cases we were down in the mid to low 20s for multiple hours. So that really caused quite a bit of damage,” Basedow said.

In response to the weather event, Basedow said many farms have focused on growing other crops that survived the freeze, brought in apples from nearby orchards and held events like hayrides. 

According to the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets, the frost impacted apples, grapes, peaches, stone fruits and berries, leading the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare 31 counties in New York — including Tompkins County — primary natural disaster areas. This designation means that farms may qualify for emergency loans from the USDA Farm Service Agency.

Roger Thomas, Farm Loan Manager for the Cortland County Farm Service Agency — which also oversees Tompkins County — said via email that his office had not yet received any emergency loan requests as of Sept 8, but that farmers have eight months to apply.

“Typically, it takes the farmers some time to [assess] the damage and often the extent of the damage cannot be fully determined until after the harvest season,” Thomas said via email. 

Tompkins County orchards

Littletree Orchards is a family-run Newfield orchard celebrating its 50th season. Orchard manager Amara Steinkraus said that Littletree Orchards is a diversified fruit farm, but they grow predominantly apples. This year the frost ruined 100% of their crop and left the orchard unable to offer a pick-your-own apple program for 2023.

“We’ve never had a year like this, ever,” Steinkraus said. 

Steinkraus was able to use a backstock of apples to create retail products, including apple sauce and apple butter that she will sell to help the business.

Similarly to Littletree Orchards, Indian Creek Farm in Ithaca lost about 99% of their apple crop to the freeze, farm owner Steve Cummins said. However, the farm is extremely diversified and grows over 100 crops for customers to pick, according to their website.

After the freeze, farm staff quickly planted more vegetables to make up for some of the losses. Cummins said his goal for this year is simply to break even on the orchard. Cummins said even without a crop, apple trees must be taken care of all year. 

“It’s kind of [like] if you have a ‘normal’ job, you get to work for a whole year and you don’t get paid at the end,” Cummins said. 

Both Cummins and Steinkraus said they were able to get apples from other farms and they have used those to make farm stand products like apple cider and donuts.

Climate change in New York

According to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, climate change is directly responsible for unseasonable temperatures and extreme cold around the world — like the weather patterns observed on May 18.

Basedow said while farmers have always attempted to mitigate frost damage through strategies like burning brush, recent weather has been more unpredictable and extreme than New York farms are used to seeing. This will likely influence farmers to think more about the ongoing impacts of climate change.

The Apple Harvest Festival

Apple Harvest Festival is an annual event hosted by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance that will be held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 in Ithaca. 

Nan Rohrer, CEO of the DIA, said the May freeze has not affected planning efforts and the event will go on as usual. She said to her knowledge, no vendors have denied attending because of crop loss and there are about 40–45 farmers expected to sell goods at the event. 

“We have heard from some of our vendors that are farmers that they certainly have had a difficult growing season and it has been a hard year for them,” Rohrer said. “So, we are glad that this event exists and is an opportunity for them to provide and sell their goods and hopefully provide them with customers that will be actively buying things that weekend, but also be able to come see them in the future.”