- Farmers in Utah's "fruit way" are optimistic despite early peach blossoms.
- Chad Tagge and Fred Barker report minimal damage from a recent cold snap.
PERRY, Box Elder County — Farmers along Utah's "fruit way" are grateful many of their blossoms survived a cold snap last week. With the trees coming into full bloom weeks early, there is now the worry that the weather could put a damper on what otherwise looks like a very strong and early season ahead. Chad Tagge, who helps run Tagge's Famous Fruits and Veggies, was out, checking trees for damage on Monday, as it typically takes a few days for the true impacts of the cold show up.
"Right now, everything's looking really good. Looks like we missed the freeze scare," Tagge said, showing off some peach and cherry blossoms.
With each passing day, the crops come closer to being in the clear. Tagge said last week, temperatures on his farm dipped down to 30 degrees, but only for about a half-hour.
"Hopefully there's not another freeze scare," he said. "It's just incredible. You look at this and each of these blossoms, you know is going to be a piece of fruit."
Just down the road at Barker's Fruits, Fred Barker is also optimistic about the season ahead.
"This year, we just haven't had a lot of cold weather, so it's kind of anybody's guess," Barker said. "But Mother Nature is really the boss when it comes right down to it."
Barker said customers can anticipate an earlier start to the season, possibly by a couple of weeks. Along with that, they would see an early end, but farmers will have a better idea as we get into May.
"If it turns off really hot, it'll speed them up a little bit. If it stays cool, it'll slow down," Barker said. "We just kind of hoped for the best and planned for the worst, but it's been a good spring so far."
