Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Pa. farmers face crop losses, rising diesel costs as fall celebrations begin

nbcphiladelphia.com · 2dShare

Pennsylvania farmers say they’re determined to maintain a festive fall season despite higher fuel costs, fertilizer prices and severe crop that have added up to a difficult past few months. At Linvilla Orchards, the annual Pumpkinland celebration kicked off on Saturday, Sept. 12, alongside a packed arts and crafts festival with over 100 vendors. But behind the pumpkins, hayrides and other signs of fall is a season shaped by an unusual late April freeze and rising expenses. Sarah Linvilla said a late April freeze as the fruit trees were blossoming meant a big crop loss. “We lost 100% of our peach crop and about 90% of our apple crop. So a lot of people, when they think fall, think of that like pick your own apple experience. And we’re still going to offer agricultural pick your own experiences this year, but it’ll be a little different than the essential apples,” Linvilla said. The orchard constantly is updating its website with the “pick-your-own” experience crop. Saturday it was apple

First report: Spring freeze gutted N.J.’s apple crop. Here’s where you can still pick your own apples this fall. — nj.com, 4d