Because many crops, such as soybeans and corn, have not yet been planted, farmers can wait for those until the frost period is over, Irish-Brown said. However, most fruit plants, including apples and grapes, already have started growing because of the 80-degree weather in March and are about three weeks ahead of the normal schedule, making it even harder for the plants to sustain the frost.

“We’re just starting to see green tissue, and we are now at the risk of all the normal frost you might get in April,” she said. “We can’t stop once it starts.”

Juice grapes were incredibly hard hit by the frost, said Paolo Sabbatini, an assistant professor and viticulturist in MSU’s Department of Horticulture. Estimates coming in from fruit companies, such as Welch’s, indicate about 90 percent of the juice grapes in Michigan have been destroyed thus far, he said. However, he said wine grapes seem to be in the clear so far, because of their slightly different growing cycle.

Michigan grape production makes up about 20 percent of the nationwide total for juice grapes, Sabbatini said, so people looking for juice in the upcoming months probably won’t notice too much shortage. However, Sabbatini said local growers and those looking to buy local could suffer.

“I don’t know how many frosts they can take,” he said. “A lot of growers could be in trouble from an economic point of view, and this is pretty sad for me.”

Agribusiness management junior and Horticulture Club Vice President Sarah Lott said she had heard about the frost and was disappointed at the damage it caused, but not incredibly surprised because of the ever changing Michigan weather.

Lott doesn’t think this particular frost will have too much effect in the long run, but in future years, fruit growers will remember what happened the next time there is a warm spell so early in the growing season.