Drought means smaller apples in Illinois

The owner of a Rockford apple orchard says the drought means apples will be smaller this season.

Pat Curran, who owns Curran’s Orchard, told the Rockford Register Star that his trees need more water before late fall. Curran says the trees are stressed and will have smaller apples. Curran says orchards across Illinois also were hurt by a string of freezing temperatures in mid-April.

Curran says smaller apples will be denser because they don’t have high moisture content.

Lynn Edwards owns Edwards Apple Orchards in Winnebago and Poplar Grove. She irrigates her orchards and says the harvest largely won’t be affected by the drought. But, Edwards says, “we could use more rain.”