N.C. apple harvest looking good after 2021’s heavy losses from heavy damage | Dining

N.C. apple growers are enjoying a good year after suffering heavy crop losses because of late frost in 2021.

North Carolina is the seventh-largest producer of apples in the country. Last year’s spring freezes resulted in millions of dollars in losses for the state’s apple growers.

In Henderson County, which produces more than half of the apples in the state, losses were estimated at 70% or $20 million.

This year is different. Justin Prewitt at Apple Hill Orchard in Morganton said that Apple Hill lost about 60% of its crop last year. “It was a small crop, but honestly a lot better than most growers,” he said. “This spring we narrowly avoided spring freezes by just a few degrees, we’ve had several hail storms brush around us, and we made it through a dry spell early on in the summer. As of now, our apple crop looks great and full.”

The Southern Heritage Apple Orchard at Horne Creek Farm in Pinnacle, which grows 400 heirloom varieties, also is reporting a good crop so far. “It is the polar opposite of last year,” said horticulturalist Jason Bowen. “Last year, there was very little fruit, and this year they are loaded.”

Kelly Carrigan, the owner of Carrigan Farms in Mooresville, offered a similar assessment. “Last year we had a late frost at Easter that killed the majority of blossoms, so we had about a 30% crop. This year we have a full crop,” Carrigan said.

“I guess you could say that apples this year are making a big comeback,” said Frank Levering, the owner of Levering Orchard. His orchard is just over the state line in Ararat, Va., but Levering supplies apples to the Winston-Salem area and is one of the farmers who will have apples at the annual Apple Festival at Historic Bethabara Park on Sept. 24.

Levering said that southwestern Virginia suffered the same kind of frost damage as North Carolina last year, but this year is looking to be a good year. “This year most every apple farmer I know has an excellent crop, so local apples should be abundant right on through October.”