Cold night

Winegrowers battled through the night, but frost took a toll

Frost bit deeply into the County overnight on Friday as temperatures dipped a couple of degrees below freezing. Coming so late in the year—surprisingly after the May long weekend—many growers and gardeners were caught off-guard. This week they begin to assess the damage.

Field crop grower David Hunter says it is hard to know yet how the frost has affected his crops. Some of his canola has turned a bit yellow, but it is unclear to Hunter whether that was due to the weekend frost or the lack of rain.

“Lack of rain is the biggest issue for us, right now,” says Hunter. “The ground is so hard we haven’t been able finish planting.”

Vegetable grower Vicki Emlaw says she has been too busy to put much of her plantings in the ground yet so seems to have dodged the frost.

“We were lucky,” says Emlaw.

Winegrowers may be among the hardest hit by the unexpected cold snap. Kathleen Greenaway is president of the Prince Edward County Winegrowers Association, and coowner of Velo Vineyards, west of Wellington. She says her members are largely in damage assessment mode.

“The early indications suggest a smaller crop in 2015,” says Greenaway. “How much smaller, we don’t know yet. It will be weeks or months before we know the full extent of the damage.”

She noted that viniferous varieties appear to have been hit hardest, but hybrids didn’t escape damage.

County winegrowers aren’t totally defenseless against frost. Some use large fans to keep the air moving over the vines—making it harder for frost to take hold. Others use smoke to retain the heat in the vines.

In some places these tactics worked well, according to Greenaway. Other places it doesn’t seem to have had a huge impact.

“It seems clear, however, that those who didn’t use mitigation measures were hurt worse,” says Greenaway.

But, she insists, it is far too early to know the effect on this year’s crop. She says experienced growers are urging calm—that despite early concern, there is probably a lot of green tissue that isn’t visible yet.

“It is important to step back and understand that this is part of farming,” says Greenaway. “Things happen when you farm—it is an unpredictable business.

“What it shows, I think, is just how far we have come in the County. We solved the winter problem. We will endure the late frost problem and be stronger for it.”

She says her members are already talking to each other to determine how best to manage, or at least mitigate against, this kind of challenge in the future.

“It was a tough night. But we have a lot of great wine here. We are a sturdy bunch. We are still open for business.”

The good news is that people are still coming, and in higher numbers, seeking County wine. Visitor numbers through tasting rooms is up over the same period last year.