An overnight freeze on April 17 sent temperatures into the low 20s across Colorado's North Fork Valley during active fruit development, effectively eliminating commercial crops for the season. At First Fruits near Paonia, grower Kevin Kropp said the freeze destroyed cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, pears, apricots, and more — representing an estimated $15 million in losses across the region.
Colorado's North Fork Valley is a notable stone fruit and tree fruit producing area, and total wipeouts like this remove meaningful regional supply at a time when the broader stone fruit picture is already complicated by early season timing and organic supply tightness elsewhere.
For category managers sourcing local or regional Colorado fruit, this season is effectively a non-starter. The losses also reinforce a broader pattern of spring freeze events hitting growing regions across the Mountain West and Eastern U.S. this year.