Irrigation helped save freeze-damaged plants
I have been reading back over my notes that I made beginning April 4, while answering questions about how to protect plants. If we had known how cold it would get and for how long; if we had more time to prepare; if we had a million dollars; we could not have protected and saved much more than we did. We might have saved some effort.
Now that is extremely general and debatable by some perhaps. Some efforts paid off for some. Hindsight is 20-20. So we could have done better here and there if we had known. I know we have spent a lot of money since then to save what survived.
Seedling producers and budders learned immediately they had lost nearly all. Field producers have had dominoes falling each month since, as another type of plant began showing damage. They started cutting away 1-2 years growth on some plants, only to find the bark split at the soil. Removing several years of work and investment on plants that died to the ground.
Water has been hauled, wells dug, drip line laid, pumps purchased, hours of sleepless nights, tired muscles and fear of not having a crop to sell. It is good that we specialize in a general line of nursery stock. It is good we have more than 400 growers with more than 36,000 acres in 5 counties with a rolling topography. Because we do have a crop to sell; but it is smaller and short on some items.
I hope all this new irrigation equipment costs the producers enough to stimulate annual use, not just to save the crop. We noticed that freeze damaged plants recovered much better when irrigation had been used before and after the freeze.
Two budded liner producers faired very well compared to others without irrigation. It appeared that cutting the new growth back immediately to the bud and irrigation saved the crop, but with a lot of extra effort above and beyond.
Storing seed in a cold storage unit and planting in mid to late April saved another operation. Fall planted wheat protected seedlings and buds for a few. Northern slopes also caused later germination of seed and saved some; while southern slopes were lost.
Row covers used in the field were ineffective because it just got too cold for too long.
What items are tax exempt for farmers (nursery producers): Generally machinery and equipment, including parts and labor when purchased for use in the production of a farm commodity; livestock, seeds, plants, fertilizer, etc. used to grow the farm product; and the purchase of electricity and liquified gas at a reduced rate. A booklet on sales and use tax as applied to farmers and nurserymen is available from the Department of Revenue by calling (800) 342-1003 or e-mailing [email protected].
You can also go to http://www.tennessee.gov/revenue/faqs/salesandusefaq.htm. Caney Fork Electric’s Mary Shirley Roller can be reached at 931-473-3116 and can provide a form for the electricity and liquified gas.