SPANISH FORK, Utah — Some locally-grown fruits that survived Utah's devastating freeze earlier this year are being harvested and prepared for sale at farmers markets starting this weekend.
"We're just glad to have something," said David McMillan, who lost a large portion of his crops in April's freeze.
McMillan is picking apricots, apples and pluots — it's a sweet combination of a plumb and an apricot — and boxing them for sale at local farmers markets. His South Shore Farm along Utah Lake survived the brunt of the freeze that devastated other orchards in nearby Genola and West Mountain.
"I think there was four times that it froze in April. The last one got most of the fruit in the state. But we survived it here," he told FOX 13 News.
It has been a rough year for fruit growers and farmers all across Utah. They've been impacted by wildfires, floods and frost. Governor Spencer Cox has issued multiple emergency declarations to help them recover. Dairy producers have also been dealing with avian flu outbreaks.
"It’s been somewhat of an apocalyptic year when it comes to agriculture," said Matt Hargreaves with the Utah Farm Bureau. "Every segment seems to have been with something. A lot of these fruit farmers got hit bad this year."
It's a small miracle that some fruit crops have survived and can be sold at local markets.
"We were looking at pretty much complete loss of fruit crops and for these farmers they still have a lot of the work that’s needed to be done throughout the year," Hargreaves said. "But just no harvest as a payday to help compensate for that."
People who want local peaches, apples and other produce may have to act quickly. There is likely to be less because so many crops were devastated. Hargreaves said most of it may be gone by Labor Day.
McMillan said he wants to ensure that Utahns have fresh, local produce.
"Support your local farmer, that’s all I can say," he said. "Please!"
