Apple farmers worried about snow's impact on crops

The heavy snowfall in parts of New Brunswick has been tough on apple farmers and it could be foreshadowing a difficult season in 2014.

The snow has piled up so high on some farms that it has given deer a chance to eat buds farther up the trees.

Some farmers are estimating that has ruined roughly 30 per cent of this year's crop.

David Coburn, who owns an orchard in Keswick Ridge, near Fredericton, said he often sees dozens of deer on his property at one time.

"Two feet of snow down, they've just added two feet that they can chew off the trees. And every fruit bud they eat today, that's an apple I won't have next year,” Coburn said.

The large amount of snow is not only causing problems for this year’s crop, it has caused an immediate problem.

Coburn lost a barn earlier this winter when it collapsed under the weight of the heavy snow.

This 40-year-old barn was used for the compost portion of his business and it couldn't handle the snow. The 72-metre-long building collapsed at the end of December.

Coburn and his son were just about to shovel off the roof when they realized something was wrong.

"I said, ‘Well I've got to go get some better footwear.’ He said, ‘Well I'm going to go in there and get the tractor,” he said.

“I had no sooner got up to our house when I heard the barn go down. And I was scared that he was in it. He had just gotten out with the tractor when it collapsed.”

The roof is now resting on top of piles of compost and machinery.

Coburn said his insurance company will cover most of the cost to rebuild the barn. But he's hoping the machinery and the compost is salvageable.

Some of the equipment is not insured and is worth upwards of $60,000 and the compost might be contaminated by the insulation.