The president of a statewide produce growers' association says farmers are still assessing damage from the latest frost he’s ever seen.
When asked just how problematic this week’s frost was for crops, Ken Holthouse from the Ohio Producer Growers and Marketers Association says “There are some that are susceptible to frost, and some that are more resistant.”
Some of the more resistant include the big-money row crops like corn and soy beans.
Holthouse says the strawberry farmers he knew were hustling.
“They would have to go out there with irrigation to put some 50 degree water on the strawberries to keep them from getting frost. Otherwise it kills the blossoms,” Holthouse says.
Holthouse says lettuce, radishes, and peppers are also very susceptible to frost damage.
Eric Berrett with OSU’s Mahoning County Extension Office says he’s talked to some tomato growers who took the risk and planted early.
“They were covering plants as good as they could to increase the heat underneath frost protection cloths,” Barrett says.
Ken Holthouse from the producer growers' association says any risk-taking farmer who planted early likely took some kind of hit.
