Tropical Wisconsin weather isn’t something you hear about every day, but 2024 is on track to be the hottest year to date and Wisconsin farms are feeling the heat. As a result, apple picking season is early this year at local farms, including Apple Holler, a fruit farm based in Sturtevant.
“This is the first year that something like this has happened,” says Jennifer Cruz, farm manager at Apple Holler. “Thanks to the tropical Wisconsin weather we experienced more precipitation and warm weather in the winter and spring that sped up the harvest.”
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The changes in weather affected pears and peaches, along with the farm’s apples.
“Pears usually come in mid-September so we’re expecting an earlier harvest around early September,” Cruz says. “We unfortunately did lose our peaches due to late winter frost sometime around January, it was only a one-degree difference, but that was enough to hurt the crop,” says Cruz.
Currently, Lodi apples are available to pick at Apple Holler. In the coming weeks, Jersey Mac, Viking and Pristine apples will be available. See Apple Holler’s website for more information.
Other local orchards are experiencing slightly earlier picking seasons than usual. Peck & Bushel Organic Fruit Co. is starting its season in mid-August, while Elegant Farmer and Barthel Fruit Farm are starting picking in early September.
Changes in the weather affect plants at all levels, especially crops grown on trees like apples. Apple trees rely on the weather in two different seasons. In the fall and winter, they experience the dormant season, where the old leaves and crops die from the cold. In the spring and summer, they experience the growing season, where the trees blossom and apples are harvested.
“We had a mild winter which led to a warm March, making apple trees blossom earlier as the growing season was accelerated,” says Amaya Atucha, fruit crop production specialist for the UW Fruit Program. “We have an early harvest because the season started earlier due to the mild winter,” Atucha says.
The lack of snow and mild temperatures this past winter shortened the apple trees’ dormant season, making the growing season come early in the spring. As a result, apples are being harvested in July rather than early-August, which is typically when harvest begins.
“Early on, a lot of the blame for a warm winter could be put on El Niño. Besides that, it’s climate change,” says Mark Baden, chief meteorologist for WISN 12.
El Niño is a natural weather phenomenon that occurs from interactions between the ocean surface and tropical atmosphere over the Pacific. The phenomenon represents above average ocean-based weather patterns, that build through the year, peaking in intensity in December, leading to dramatic weather changes throughout the winter. Climate change is another factor entirely.
“It’s hard to put one event on climate change. Is it possible we end up with below average temperatures in the future, of course, but that’ll be a total anomaly, we’ll need to get used to the heat,” says Baden.
