Homestead
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It’s been another year of challenging weather for farmers and gardeners in Maine, with a cold, wet spring turning into a dry summer and early fall.
Most of the state is now gripped by a drought that doesn’t show signs of letting up soon.
The effects are currently visible in shorter-season vegetable crops, less hay to feed Maine livestock and hundreds of wells going dry. But it may continue into the winter under current forecasts, and could also persist into the next season for apples.
Apples trees set the next season’s fruit a year in advance, and conditions that put stress on the trees could reduce yields next year, according to Renae Moran, who works with growers at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. This season, cold and wet conditions during the window when flowers are pollinated caused some uneven yields.
Things still look solid overall this season, she said, and fruit is mostly of a good size.
Almost 450 farms in Maine produced about a million bushels of fruit in 2022, according to the last agricultural census, and apples are also popular home fruit trees in Maine with long historical roots here.
While late summer often comes with a few dry weeks in Maine, it’s been a more prolonged period this year, she said.
The entire state is now seeing the effects of a dry spell that’s been ongoing for months without signs of letting up. A band of extreme drought conditions extend west to east across the state, from the Bethel area to Waterville, Belfast and coastal Hancock and Washington counties according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Most of the rest of the state is in a severe drought, while conditions range from moderate drought to abnormally dry in northern Maine.
All of those categories can cause crop losses and water shortage.
Some orchards have irrigation to help, and apple trees in general are drought-tolerant plants, according to Moran.
On the upside, it’s good weather for apple picking, Moran said. If picking for longer-term storage in the fridge, take them from the tree before they’re fully ripe – at the start of the harvest window, which varies by type.