Cold Crops: How they’re protected throughout the winter

The peaches, pears, and plums have gone through some rough conditions over the past couple of nights. But will they make it to spring?

We talked to farmers in palisade about how they protect their crops from these harsh temperatures.

Talbott’s farm has been preparing for this winter season for months now.

Last year they made it through the cold with about 70 percent of their crops undamaged.

This year however; may go a little differently, but the manger of Talbott’s Orchard, Bruce Talbott, says it's too soon to tell.

Bruce said, “Up until the last few days it's actually been pretty good. We don't think we have any damage and I hope we didn't get any the last couple night. We're getting down to critical temperatures and we don't know exactly where we are until after the fact."

Bruce said the wine grapes are his highest priority, as they're easily damaged by temperatures ten to twenty degrees below zero.

The base of the crops is usually 5 degrees colder than the top of the plants, but using fans and wind machines help bring warm air from above to the base of the crops, helping them stay warm. 

Once the spring arrives and temperatures rise up to about 40 degrees, farmers will be able to tell just how many crops survived the winter months