Regional and Local Patterns of Orchard Production in Wisconsin

Ross Guida

Geography Seminar

Paper 3

11/10/2008

1. Introduction a) Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze regional and local orchard patterns in the state of Wisconsin and why they exist and are distributed the way they are. It will present maps, figures, charts, and a basic understanding of orchard production in Wisconsin. It will discuss how Wisconsin’s production compares to the rest of the continent.

b) The problem of scale (what is scale? why might scale make a difference?)

Scale is what we use when looking at maps. The larger the scale is, the more local in detail. The smaller the scale is, the larger the area (like a continent). The problem is if you look at only at one or the other, it doesn’t present a clear picture of what’s going on. We need to understand what’s going on at each level. Once you understand the small scale then you can go more in-depth with regional and local analysis.

2. The Continental Pattern of Orchard Production

Orchards in the United States, which will be used as a sample for the continent, are concentrated on the West Coast and in Florida (Map 1). There are also concentrations along the western coast of Michigan. Some orchards also are present in the southern Great Plains region. Factors influencing production are precipitation, length of growing season (frost free days), and proximity to a coastline. Coastal climates tend to be more temperate, influencing the growing season (Map 2).

Since the winds blow west to east coming off of Lake Michigan, the state of Michigan’s west coast experiences a better growing season than any regions in Wisconsin, despite the fact their latitude and elevation is similar.

Map 1: Map of Orchard Production in the United States: 2002

Map 2:

3. The Regional Pattern of Orchard Production in Wisconsin

a) Data (what data did you use and what would you have liked?)

The data used for the regional scale will refer to data specifically in the state of Wisconsin. It was gathered using zip codes as centroids and totaling the number of acres of orchard production closest to each centroid. It shows overall orchard production but doesn’t detail the specific crops grown in the areas. It would have been nice to have this data to compare crops that are exactly the same.

b) The general regional pattern (map and discussion).

The general pattern is more production around Fall Creek, Bayfield, and the Door County Peninsula (Figure 1). Some production is also located east of the La Crosse area and just north of the Wisconsin River. The Kriging Map shows the general distribution of orchards by acre (Map 2).

0 74,000 148,00037,000Meters 4

Total_Est_AcTOT_EST_AC

10.00000010.000001 - 75.00000075.000001 - 150.000000

150.000001 - 460.000000

460.000001 - 945.000000

Counties

Figure 1: Estimated Orchard Acres in Wisconsin

0 74,000 148,00037,000Meters 4

Total_Est_AcTOT_EST_AC

10.00000010.000001 - 75.00000075.000001 - 150.000000

150.000001 - 460.000000

460.000001 - 945.000000

CountiesKriging_OrchardProductionPrediction Map

Filled Contours10 - 36.891805136.8918051 - 46.5949346.59493 - 50.096020150.0960201 - 51.359286551.3592865 - 54.860376654.8603766 - 64.563501564.5635015 - 91.455306691.4553066 - 165.98482165.98482 - 372.540253372.540253 - 945

Figure 2: Kriging Map of Orchard Acres in Wisconsin

4. Regional Environmental Factors

a) Growing season hypothesis (what is it?, why is growing season important?) The growing season hypothesis says the long the growing season (the more frost free

days), the more orchard production there will be in acres.

) Growing season patterns (map and discussion does the “lake effect” seem to play a role?). The map shows the growing season for Wisconsin in terms of frost free growing days

s to have an effect on the Bayfield area and Lake Michigan County Peninsula and the eastern edge of Wisconsin.

leaves the Ba

b

(Figure 3). Lake Superior seemseems to directly affect the DoorHowever, the difference between the eastern part of the state and Bayfield still

yfield area at a deficit when comparing the actual growing season.

0 74,000 148,00037,000Meters 4

Kriging_DaysValue

High : 192.108

Low : 68.0037

Figure 3: Frost Free Growing Days in Wisconsin

c) Comparisons (growing season and orchard production map, make some generalizations

about growing season and the pattern of orchards). While the growing season may be longer in the southern and southeast part of Wisconsin,

those areas are also more densely populated. So, some other areas of Wisconsin like Fall Creek and Bayfield are more productive in terms of acres because they have similar growing seasons (Bayfield a bit less) and much more land in terms of acres for orchards. If the same amount of acres were devoted to orchards in the southeast part of the state, production would also be high. One could assume it may even be higher given that the southeast region has the longer growing season.

It is interesting to note how the growing season (in terms of days) seems to surround the a higher production than some other areas.

) ZIP Code values (Estimated Acres) & Growing Season (DAYS). Make a bar graph. The bar graph that follows shows the acreage for each growing season in terms of days

ne would expect to find the most acres under the longest growing season (>160) season areas of Wisconsin are the highest

growing periods contain the largest number of acres of orchards.

Eau Claire Area. This is why Fall Creek has d

(Chart 1). Obut as discussed earlier, the longer growing populated as well. Therefore, the second longest

f) Conclusions So, climate plays a large factor in determining the areas most suitable for orchards, but

other factors influence the location as well. Entire urban areas aren’t going to be moved because the orchard production is better, so the best available land in terms of climate and growing season have to be used. In Wisconsin, anomalies like Fall Creek, Bayfield, and Door County are therefore most suitable due to the relatively decent growing season and low population densities.

5. Regional Human Factor

a) Urban influence hypothesis Urban areas influence orchard location because orchards simply aren’t feasible in urban

environments. As a result, they must use land with the longest available growing season and not necessarily the longest growing season possible. These areas tend to have lower population densities.

b) Urban patterns (buffer map and discussion, do the maps coincide?).

The map shows that many of the orchards are not within 15 miles of cities—the urban areas used in the GIS (Figure 4). So, they coincide well with the hypothesis that orchards

will generally be found in greater numbers the further away from an urban area one is.

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0 74,000 148,00037,000Meters 4

!.

Total_ st_AcT

CITIESE

OT_EST_AC10.00000010.000001 - 75.00000075.000001 - 150.000000

150.000001 - 460.000000

460.000001 - 945.000000

Counties15mileCitiesBufferWisconsin

Figure 4: 15 Mile Urban Buffer with Orchards

AREA ESTIMATED ACRES % of TOTAL

Total 11,668 100%% within 10 Miles 1805 15% within 15 Miles 3060 26% within 20 Miles 4588 39% within 25 Miles 5505 47% within 30 Miles 6048 52% within 35 Miles 6810 58

c) Orchard acres and urban zones (how did you derive these data?, discussion of table).

The urban zones from Figure 4 were derived from a 15-mile buffer in ArcMap GIS 9.3. Once complete, the buffer was then dissolved to show all areas within 15 miles of a city. The table that follows shows the results of doing this for each mileage listed and then totaling the acres in each buffer (Table 1). For this data set, the largest percentage of orchard acres is within 15 miles of urban areas.

Table 1: Orchard Acres within Urban Zones

0 48,000 96,00024,000Meters

4

Figure 5: Fall Creek/Bayfield Quadrangle Locations

LegendCounties

Fall Creek Contours

Bayfield Contours

Wisconsin

d) Conclusions Based on the information from the table, we must reject the hypothesis because more

orchard acres are expected to be found further from urban areas. However, the data shows the opposite. Having the data from Fall Creek excluded might improve this data because they are the largest orchards found within 10 miles generally and skew the data. Several small orchards in southern Wisconsin also skew this data toward more orchard acres being with urban zones.

6. The Local Pattern of Orchard Production

a) Sample areas Sample areas include Bayfield (on Lake Superior) and Fall Creek (in Eau Claire and

Chippewa County), Wisconsin. Their quadrangle map locations are shown (Figure 5). The detailed orchard locations and the slopes are also shown for each area (Figures 6,7).

0 1,900 3,800950Meters 4

Figure 6: Bayfield County Contours w/ Orchards

LegendCounties

Dig_Orchards

Bayfield Contours

0 2,100 4,2001,050Meters 4

Figure 7: Fall Creek Contours w/ Orchards

LegendCounties

Dig_Orchards

Bayfield Contours

bBasically, air drainage is the gravitational movement of colder, dense air down hillslopes

on, even 10 to 20 feet can make a difference. ental variable, air drainage can be important to orchards. To keep orchard

dying during borderline frost days, it is smarter to build upslope of the air drainage areas. This keeps temperatures warm enough for orchard crops providing free air movement is allowed.

c) Economic reasons for orchards on slopes?

It is economically smarter to have orchards on slopes because the temperatures stay a bit warmer and therefore more of the crop is maintained. This leads to less loss which in turn means more money.

d) Conclusions

The hypothesis of air drainage must be accepted when looking at the Bayfield and Fall Creek quadrangles orchard locations (Figures 6,7). The orchards are built on slopes. Thus, cold air drains down slope and the orchards are maintained during times when some areas may receive frost conditions.

7. Conclusions.

Orchards are geographically located in areas of available land with the longest growing seasons. That means even if the growing season is shorter than some of the urban areas, it is more practical to have large acres of land for orchards outside of these city zones. In Wisconsin, these areas are primarily Bayfield, Fall Creek, and Door County.

Orchards are also placed on slopes so air drainage can be effective. Cold air drains down slope allowing crops to stay in warmer environment, even if it’s just a couple of degrees Fahrenheit. In a time of frost, that may make all the difference.

Coastal environments make a difference on both the regional and continental scale when it comes to growing season and orchard production. That’s why Michigan can utilize Lake Michigan to produce more orchard acres than Wisconsin and California, Oregon, Washington, and Florida are so productive.

While production is expected to be away from urban areas, sometimes it can be closer. Wherever the best available non-developed land for orchards is, that’s where they will be located. Overall, orchards have been evaluated on a local, regional, and continental level and all three factors influence location differently. The continental scale shows general trends in production. The regional scale shows anomalies within each state. The local level shows how factors like air drainage are utilized to optimize production.

Wisconsin has its own unique orchard landscape and its similarities and differences allow us to analyze why they are where they are and what factors are driving the system.

) Air drainage (definition and discussion) as an environmental variable.

where it settles. Slight differences in elevatiSo, as an environmcrops from

8. Bibliography.

Bayfield, Wisconsin Quadrangle, U. S. Geological Survey 7.5 minute topographic map.

Census of Agriculture 2002, Zip Code Data, Vol. 1, Wisconsin, (National Agriculture Statistics Service, Washington D.C. 2004), pp. 6-201.

Data/Information on air drainage (http://www.canr.msu.edu/vanburen/fdrainage.htm)

Data/Information on climate maps (http://snow.ag.uidaho.edu/Clim_Map/koppen_usa_map.htm)

Data/Information on orchard production for the United States (http://www.nass.usda.gov/research/atlas02/Crops/Fruits,%20Tree%20Nuts,%20Berries,%20Nursery%20and%20Greenhouse%20Crops/Total%20Acres%20of%20Land%20in%20Orchards-choropleth%20map.gif)

Fall Creek, Wisconsin Quadrangle, U.S. Geological Survey 7.5 minute topographic map.