WHAM~! There goes our crops ? Frost Advisory~!

PORTLAND - A frost advisory was in effect for most of the Willamette Valley, Portland and the Vancouver Metro areas through Thursday morning. More: Frost advisory | Forecast

National Weather Forecasters said temperatures could drop to 30 to 34 degrees in the outlying areas.

Budding plants and trees could be damaged if left uncovered.

Gardeners say it's best to cover plants with cardboard, plastic or sheeting until temperatures warm up in the morning. Also be sure to allow some breathing room.Frost Advisory

this was posted @ 5:29pm today.. hmmm.. for those that have small gardens it might be ok.. but, I live in crop farming country .. there's no way some farmers can cover all their acreage.

same deal as last year.. it's May and 43*F ....

This happened once while I was growing up, about 20 years ago, in Texas (much further south). It is unfortunate but it just happens sometimes.

Just another reason for them to hyper inflate prices at the grocery store.

And I think that this happened early March 2012, frost warnings for a couple of mornings, and 2 months later another frost warning,

But hey it's 2012 anything can go lol Just be prepared that's all I can say.

there was another thread about how this wierd weather had already messed up orchards and the like worse then ever seen before...at least in the north east US and south eastern central Canada

here in ontario,the weather has been warm.too warm! the fruit trees are starting to flower all ready and its worrying the farmers. i think this summer will be really wacky with possible droughts.

Many farmers in my area cover their fields with plastic sheet. We see it all the time at this time of year. They don't cover the entire field , just the rows of plants. Here in Western New York late frost is not uncommon.

The only fruit trees affected so far are the cherry trees. Certian areas along Lake Ontario got a hard frost a couple of weeks ago. After a few warn weeks had caused them to bloom. Other areas are fine so far. The apple trees are all in bloom and the few light frosts we have had don't seem to have bothered them. I haven't seen any other fruit trees blooming yet. This area is full of orchards. Near Lake Ontario the whole shoreline is filled with them

Good year for apples with probably an early harvest. Bad year for cherries and another year of high cherry prices like last year.

I've read that 1/3 of the apple crop in Ontario is done for.

If we go through another drought on the prairies, food prices are going to skyrocket.

Hardly a topic under fragile earth.

This is part of being a farmer. While a frost in May (we have one predicted tonight for central British Columbia with potential SNOW as well) is unusual, it's certainly not unprecedented.

Originally posted by masqua
I've read that 1/3 of the apple crop in Ontario is done for.

If we go through another drought on the prairies, food prices are going to skyrocket.

Food prices already skyrocketing, but not because of conditions on the Canadian priarie.

Food prices are skyrocketing because the US Department of Agriculture is subsidizing farmers in the USA to grow crops that can't be used for food - crops for High Fructose Corn Syrup and Ethanol account for more than 50% of the use of arable land in the USA.

Modern farmers also rarely rotate crops, instead, they use high impact fertilizer which have a hugely negative impact on long term soil use.

Mankind was able to efficiently farm crops with tried and tested methods for nearly 10,000 years. In just over 50 years, those methods have been challenged and the arable land is being decimated as a result.

Word here in West Michigan is an 80% loss of cherries and apples among other things. Tulip festival in Holland is going to be athe Stem fest this year

Originally posted by lonegurkha
Many farmers in my area cover their fields with plastic sheet. We see it all the time at this time of year.

That's likely not exactly a plastic sheet, but a type of plastic 'fabric' known as reemay, which protects from bugs and frost.

Trust me it's plastic sheet. You can see it clearly as the fields are right by the road. It's not any kind of fabric. The farmers around here have been using it for a few years. I've seen them putting it down and taking it up.

Originally posted by lonegurkha
Trust me it's plastic sheet. You can see it clearly as the fields are right by the road. It's not any kind of fabric. The farmers around here have been using it for a few years. I've seen them putting it down and taking it up.

So, they only lay it out overnight, and then take it up again the next morning?

Because, otherwise, that plastic would fry the entire crop as soon as the sun hit it.

Reemay, tho, is used by tons of farmers for cop coverage.

reply to post by stanguilles7


reemay farming,,now if i had a 20 acre field of say,, corn,,is this feasable finacially,,or even possible?,
i know its used on round bails after it's been harvested, but for frost coverage on a say 100 acre field,,
u know not a hobby farm,, curious,,?
i hope it doe's work,,,i like too eat.
without emptying my wallet,,supply and demand i assume is still a functioning Economic concept,,as well as Cost versus return,, u know farm stuff.

Me.

Originally posted by BobAthome
reply to post by stanguilles7

 

reemay farming,,now if i had a 20 acre field of say,, corn,,is this feasable finacially,,or even possible?,

Yes. Remay can be re-used for several years and it is used by nearly every farmer i have ever known.

i know its used on round bails after it's been harvested,

Reemay would never be used to protect hay bales after harvest, as it is not water proof. A specially-designed plastic wrap is used to hay bales.

but for frost coverage on a say 100 acre field,,
u know not a hobby farm,, curious,,?

Yes, even in large fields, because, again, regular plastic OVER the crops would cook the plants as soon as the sun hit it. Many farmers use plastic UNDER their crops, like melons and strawberries, though. But that is not for frost protection, but to keep weeds down.

reply to post by Komodo


Biggest crop in the Willamette River Valley is Grass, and not the kind you smoke, thats even bigger but not in the valleys

Dont worry ATS Oregonians know all about planting Gardens in June

reply to post by stanguilles7


u know the saying,,
(only because i've search,and can't seem too find it in larger applications,)
any pictures,,of Larger,, field,,,say 100 acres,where this is,, applied,,??,, still skeptical on the large scale use,,but hey seeing is believing,,

Me.

reply to post by BobAthome


And again, while it might not be Reemay, I'M still skeptical that any farmers would take the time and effort to cover hundreds of acres in plastic only to have to then remove said plastic before the dawn, which i also dont see you posting evidence of, so... I'm going to go with my ten plus years of working with and on farms, in farming communities, with actual farmers.

reply to post by stanguilles7



"And again, I"M still skeptical that any farmers would take the time and effort to cover hundreds of acres in plastic only to have to then remove said plastic before the dawn,"

(only because i've search,and can't seem too find it in larger applications,)

That what i said,,,

" Many farmers in my area cover their fields with plastic sheet. We see it all the time at this time of year.

That's likely not exactly a plastic sheet, but a type of plastic 'fabric' known as reemay, which protects from bugs and frost."


ok,, i have misinterpretted your meaning,,
i thought it was possable,,

Can it be made workable??? would save a lot of crops from frost damage?,,i know, methods such as ,,huge sprinkler sytem types that i do believe are effective,, but possably for fully matured,,
or shoots as well?
Please dont get me wrong,,i really think that it is a big concern,, and i really do enjoy, and having lived on a farm,,,as a child to teen-years,,ya big city yippie lol,,,thats yippie not Hippie,,lol

i like too eat,haying time,, best meals i have EVER eaten.
120 degress in the loft,,hay bales one,by one,by one, ya,,,i do miss it.
a lttle.

Me.

Originally posted by stanguilles7
reply to post by BobAthome

 

And again, while it might not be Reemay, I'M still skeptical that any farmers would take the time and effort to cover hundreds of acres in plastic only to have to then remove said plastic before the dawn, which i also dont see you posting evidence of, so... I'm going to go with my ten plus years of working with and on farms, in farming communities, with actual farmers.

edit on 10-5-2012 by stanguilles7 because: (no reason given)

Star for this~! Same here, with crop farms in my area, Forest Grove OR, google that & you can see how many there are and how big.. I would venture to say nothing less than 20+acres. I've worked on a 40 acre dairy farm for 11 years; it's work and even though it's crop farming, 40+acres to spread the Reemay for one night of frost, is still work. I'm really skeptical they would.

Which is the reason for this thread, if they plant in late May/early June, they run the risk of frost durning Sept... which should still be hot enough to harvest but, it was cool here last year only 1 week of 90*F weather..