For more information, please contact: 6 Warner Rd. Warner, NH 03278 (603) 456-2011 [email protected] Northern Temperature Fluctuations Challenge Agricultural Success By the time May rolls around, North America collectively is ready to leave winter behind and welcome warmer weather. However, the weather doesn't always cooperate and the possibility of frost never fully diminishes until somewhere towards the end of June. When an unexpected frost strikes, aside from an aggravated population, devastating agricultural losses can occur. Two recent example have shed light on the environmental struggles that farmers in the north growing corn as well as Canadian vineyard owners face. A recent study from Purdue University illustrates the impact frosts have on young corn plants. According to this study, frost appears on plants even before temperatures reach the freezing point at 32 °F, but this level of exposure is not always a death sentence for the plants. Plants that are exposed to temperatures at or below 28 °F for more than an hour will likely not survive, however, if temperatures warm up quickly after a frost, there is a chance that the plants will be able to recover. Although there may be visible damage to the leaves above ground, as long as the apical meristem (the growth point of the plant) does not go below 28 °F, the plant is likely to survive. In another location, a frost that recently hit vineyards across Toronto, Canada and did not leave the plants with much of a chance. Both May 22nd and May 23rd set record low temperatures for this area. As Liz Dobson Lacey tells a local paper, "This year was looking like a really great year, then in less than six hours it was kind of taken away." Bigger vineyards are capable of taking measures to keep plants heated including burning hay bales in the vineyard or flying helicopters low to radiate heat onto the plants, but the smaller family owned businesses are not as able to protect the crop. Examples like these show the importance temperature monitoring and the role it has in the agricultural community. Even a slight variation in environmental conditions can mean the difference between a plants' survival or demise. Data loggers are not only used for the studies that determine the ideal temperature range for plant growth but are also employed to monitor greenhouses, nurseries, crops and more. Wireless data loggers can also be configured to alert growers if temperatures exceed acceptable limits that may lead to plant damage or loss, this provides the opportunity to head off problems before it is too late.

Northern Temperature Fluctuations Challenge Agricultural Success

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By the time May rolls around, North America collectively is ready to leave winter behind and welcome warmer weather. However, the weather doesn't always cooperate and the possibility of frost never fully diminishes until somewhere towards the end of June. When an unexpected frost strikes, aside from an aggravated population, devastating agricultural losses can occur. Two recent example have shed light on the environmental struggles that farmers in the north growing corn as well as Canadian vineyard owners face.

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For more information, please contact:

6 Warner Rd.

Warner, NH 03278 (603) 456-2011

[email protected]

Northern Temperature Fluctuations Challenge

Agricultural Success By the time May rolls around, North America collectively is ready to leave winter behind and welcome warmer weather. However, the weather doesn't always cooperate and the possibility of frost never fully diminishes until somewhere towards the end of June.

When an unexpected frost strikes, aside from an aggravated

population, devastating agricultural losses can occur. Two recent

example have shed light on the environmental struggles that farmers in the north growing corn as well as Canadian vineyard owners face.

A recent study from Purdue University illustrates the impact frosts

have on young corn plants. According to this study, frost appears on

plants even before temperatures reach the freezing point at 32 F, but

this level of exposure is not always a death sentence for the plants.

Plants that are exposed to temperatures at or below 28 F for more

than an hour will likely not survive, however, if temperatures warm

up quickly after a frost, there is a chance that the plants will be able

to recover. Although there may be visible damage to the leaves above

ground, as long as the apical meristem (the growth point of the plant) does not go below 28 F, the plant is likely to survive.

In another location, a frost that recently hit vineyards across Toronto,

Canada and did not leave the plants with much of a chance. Both

May 22nd and May 23rd set record low temperatures for this area. As

Liz Dobson Lacey tells a local paper, "This year was looking like a really great year, then in less than six hours it was kind of taken away."

Bigger vineyards are capable of taking measures to keep plants heated including burning hay bales in the vineyard or flying helicopters low to radiate heat onto the plants, but the smaller family owned businesses are not as able to protect the crop.

Examples like these show the importance temperature monitoring and the role it has in the agricultural community. Even a slight variation in environmental conditions can mean the difference between a plants' survival or demise.

Data loggers are not only used for the studies that determine the ideal temperature range for plant growth but are also

employed to monitor greenhouses, nurseries, crops and more. Wireless data loggers can also be configured to alert

growers if temperatures exceed acceptable limits that may lead to plant damage or loss, this provides the opportunity to head off problems before it is too late.