Cold-hardiness model could be breakthrough for farmers

Colorado State University is launching a new tool in Orchard Mesa, among other places, that predicts peach floral buds’ survival rates based on their stage in the growth cycle and real-time weather data.

The model is a potential game-changer for farmers, according to CSU Associate Professor of Pomology Ioannis Minas, who developed it.

“In most of North America, the main production limitation factor is cold damage,” he said. “All these perennial fruit species are outside in the environment, they are exposed to the weather. You cannot cover them, you cannot take them out, so cold hardiness is a very important aspect of our production.”

Developing the cold-hardiness model took around five years, Minas said, as researchers conducted freezing tests on some 6,000 to 10,000 peach buds. It was