Orchard Outlook - Degree Day Update

Hello, the purpose of today's brief post is to give you an update on degree day accumulations as harvest is ongoing. Heat accumulation has not changed significantly and remains very similar to last year. Over the last week, temperatures have also been encouraging for red colour development by being below 15°C at night and daily temperatures of around 20-25°C. Wishing you all a great harvest!

2022 Degree Day Accumulations

The cumulative degree days are above the 5 and 10-year averages for base 5°C and 10°C heat units (Figure 1). The totals are running very similar to 2010 and 2021. The higher than average heat accumulation so far may contribute to earlier harvest periods so check your records for guidance.

Figure 1: Heating degree day accumulations for plant (above 5°C) and insect (above 10°C) development from March 1 to September 6 for the past 17 seasons. Provided by Jeff Franklin (AAFC).

• Approximately 5% more plant development heat units compared to the 5-year average, and 5% more compared to the 10-year average.
• Approximately 1% more plant development heat units compared to 2021, and 4% more compared with 2020.
• Approximately 6% more insect development heat units compared to the 5-year average, and 5% more compared to the 10-year average.