Record heat wave scorches crops across Oregon, and drought could worsen loss to growers

Mark Wonser, owner of Wonser Woods Estate in Estacada, planted 13,500 Christmas seedlings in May. After Oregon’s historic heat wave in late June, he found his nine acres of tiny trees had been fried.

He figures he’s lost around 90% of the Christmas tree crop to the record temperatures.

Wonser’s farm was one of many that took a devastating hit as the heat dome dried and scorched agriculture throughout the state, leaving farmers wondering how they may tackle extreme weather going forward.

Dave Dillon, executive vice president of the Oregon Farm Bureau, said he is not sure there is any part of the state that has not been impacted this year by the heat dome, the ongoing drought, the ice storm in February and effects of wildfire smoke late last summer.

For farmers, he said the heat wave also comes on the heels of major market disruptions for agricultural products during the pandemic, the impacts of trade policies under the Trump administration and three to four years of “bad prices for products.”

“You start kind of accumulating all of that weight, and it is a really tough time to be a farmer right now,” he said.

Dillon said the hardest hit by the heat wave has been for growers of caneberries — including blueberries, blackberries and marionberries — and cherries, all high-value items.

Dillon also said no federal program is available to help farmers recover from the kinds of losses accrued in the heat wave with regard to specialty crops, such as fruits and vegetables.

“They’re not gigantic commodities, like corn or soybeans,” he said.

And while the heat wave did considerable damage on its own to agriculture throughout the state, he said its combination with the drought is likely to worsen immediate and longer-term effects.

The heat wave’s timing heightened its impact on Wonser’s farm. He said if it had hit in July or August when the trees were further along in growth, the damage would not have been nearly as severe as it was to the tender seedlings.

Only around 15% of the trees already grown on the farm were damaged, with those on the south side roasted completely brown by the heat.

Smith Berry Barn in Hillsboro lost around half of its raspberries and 25% to 50% of its blackberries during the heat wave. On day two, owner Rich Hildner worked to avoid that outcome — setting his water cannon and sprinklers to move from acre to acre in half the normal time to ensure all his crops were hydrated that same day.

Even with full irrigation, Hildner said raspberries cannot withstand temperatures over 90 degrees and turned white and dry on one side. Blackberries were damaged as well, and he expects green apples toward the top of trees to soon fall after brown rings were burned into them.

“I think everything just got tired of the sun,” he said.

Hildner said he tried to prepare when he knew the heat wave was imminent, but he could not protect all 20 to 22 acres.

“We did as much as we could,” he said. “You can’t cover everything with an umbrella when you grow as many acres as we do.”

Nodaway Blues Blueberry Farm in WIlsonville, Oregon

The recent heat wave caused problems for Nodaway Blues Blueberry Farm in Wilsonville, Oregon, where owner and operator Sam Pap estimates about 20 to 25 percent of his blueberry crop was scorched or otherwise impacted. July 8, 2021. Beth Nakamura/Staff The Oregonian

Nodaway Blueberry Barn owner Sam Pap said he considered himself lucky to lose just around 20% of the Wilsonville farm’s blueberries, as only the ripe berries were scorched. Due to the extreme heat, those hidden under leaves from direct sunlight still wrinkled to resemble raisins.

The last time Pap remembered his crops were similarly damaged by heat was in 2009. In both instances, he said the impact was exacerbated by berries not being able to cool down overnight.

Most berries, Pap said, are resilient to heat even up to 100 degrees if they can cool down after nightfall with temperatures in the 60-62 range. During the heat wave, evening temperatures ranged from 72 to 82 degrees, which he said berries can endure only briefly before becoming dehydrated after two days.

Pap said he is unsure how he could prepare for a similar heat event down the line.

“I just chalked it up to one of these variables that me personally, I do not have any control over,” he said, “because I just can’t control the heat.”

Other Oregon farmers were more fortunate. Aside from squash plants and some scorching on leaves, crops grown at Sun Love Farm in Oregon City suffered virtually no damage during the heat wave, said owner Melissa Streng.

Streng took precautions in the day prior, covering broccoli and lettuce with a shade cloth that cooled the crops by blocking out 30% of the sunlight beaming down on them. She also sprayed the plants with kaolin clay, which is commonly used to deter pests from crops but can also provide sun protection by whitening the crops and acting as a sunscreen.

Knowing broccoli heads would not survive the heat wave, she harvested broccoli she thought had reached full maturity. She would normally have left them in the field until their normal harvest day before going out to customers through pickup or delivery.

Some crops such as tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers are “heat-loving plants,” Streng said. Even so, she thought the record-setting heat could be damaging.

“But they were more resilient than I expected,” she said.

In preparation for a future heat wave, Streng said she plans on investing in more shade cloth and a backup water source, such as a rainwater collection system. She said all her plants would have died if the farm’s water supply was shut off during the heat wave.

With the city water the vegetable farm currently runs on, she watered all plants every day during the heat wave rather than every three days as she normally does.

“I am so curious to look at the water bill when it comes,” Streng said.

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-- Ardeshir Tabrizian; atabrizian@oregonian.com; 503-929-3053; @ardytabrizian

This post has been updated to reflect the following correction: Nodaway Blueberry Barn is in Wilsonville. An earlier version of this story included an incorrect location.

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