Drought conditions, Hurricane Helene leave behind obstacles for Tennessee orchards
Weather produces obstacles for a Nolensville orchard’s Granny Smith apples, after dealing with 100% peach loss in 2023.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Weather can impact every part of our lives. Some business owners, especially those in agriculture, often feel those impacts in a worse way.
When you think of impacts on a business, you may not think of the weather, but weather impacts all things. For apple orchards, these impacts can be devastating.
Impacts from both drought conditions and Hurricane Helene were felt at Morning Glory Orchard in Nolensville. That was not enough to stop Alyson Terrel from pushing her business forward.
Granny Smith apples are typically what Morning Glory uses for the caramel apples they sell. This year, as a result of the drought conditions and smaller apples, it’s been harder to sell their caramel apples.
However, the drought didn’t impact their apple yield much, but Alyson said they anticipate a 20% loss at the beginning of each season. That’s because the weather can change so much during a growing season.
Sometimes the loss can be even worse. Last year, for example, Morning Glory had a 100% peach loss. This was due to a huge warm-up in February that made the peach trees start budding. They were in full blossom until a freeze in early March killed their entire crop.
Weather can either be on their side or their worst opponent. Alyson says they’re either praying for rain or praying for the rain to stop, or praying for more heat or for the heat to let up.
She also says what makes farming awesome is there is a new challenge each year. They do not irrigate in their orchard, they just let Mother Nature do her job.
With 10 acres of land, there are over 800 trees on the property; most of them are apple trees. She lost eight of them due to the strong winds and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Helene. That’s about 400 pounds of fruit or about a 10% loss of product.
Alyson passed on some encouragement, despite the challenges she’s faced with her business.
“People say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I think that’s false. You will absolutely work, and you will bust your butt, but it will be the most gratifying thing you ever do, and I love being out here.”
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