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Farmers welcome warm weather across Central Pennsylvania

YORK TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Some farmers across the area welcome the early warm weather to help with their crops but also worry if it will hold out....
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YORK TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY, Pa. -- Some farmers across the area welcome the early warm weather to help with their crops but also worry if it will hold out.

In Lancaster County, one farmer rolls large amounts of sod, and in York County, another prunes his peach trees. Both are ahead of schedule.

"Most times, the grounds either frozen or covered in snow, so we're sitting inside, waiting for this kind of weather,” says Matt Wimer, the General Manager at Sporting Valley Turf Farms in Lancaster County.

Normally, Wimer must wait to harvest the turf but not now.

Workers steadily roll the grass thanks to the warmer weather.

"Anything this time of year is a step in the direction,” he adds.

Wimer can get a month’s head start rolling the sod which means his clients, some golf courses in the area, get their grass before the busy season starts making the courses green earlier than usual.

"This helps them out rather than being behind or everything being jammed into the beginning of April,” Wimer explains.

He says an early start is good for everyone, especially those who need extra time to lay sod. Because the grass isn’t as warm as it would be in the summer, you have a couple days before you have to lay it.

"Well, we’re ahead with our pruning,” said Ronald Markey, owner of Kenmar Farms in York Township, York County.

Markey welcomes the warmth too as he begins to prepare his peach and apple trees, but the warm temps must hold out or it could hurt the fruits.

"If we stay warm for the next two weeks, you're going to see these start to push. It won't make me nervous if it don't go back the other way,” Markey laughs.

If it stays warm, Markey says he must prune earlier than usual which is risky because those clipped parts of the trees can freeze if temperatures drop, and they haven’t dried out.

"It can freeze back into the wood and damage the wood,” he warns.

Besides the early sod rolling and peach pruning, there's another reason for farmers and gardeners to be happy about the weather:

This is the perfect soil to begin growing some of your crops because it’s dry, and when you pick it up, it falls apart in your hands. Those crops include onions, cabbage, lettuce, peas, and anything that will last if we get another cold spell.

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