Apples, cider more costly this year

SHELBURNE, Mass. (WWLP) - Gasoline is not the only thing you’ll be paying more for a gallon of this year. Western Massachusetts produce dealers are blaming the unusual spring weather for the high prices we're paying for apples and apple cider.

Hager's Farm Market along the Mohawk Trail in Shelburne charges $2 more for a gallon of cider than it did a year ago.

Owner Kim Stevens told 22News about what happened to drive up the price. “We had such a warm spring so early that the apple trees started blossoming too early, and we had a frost,” she said.

Stevens says she considers herself lucky. She lost between one third and one half of her apple crops, but some farmers lost their entire apple crop for the year.