what follows cold winters for production?

We are still looking at snow and frozen soils.  There is a lot of field work waiting for the thaw, so how will this impact our yields?

     The winter of 2013 -2014 is the 4th coldest on record.  Proceeded my the winters of 1976-77, 1977-78, and 1978-79 (1935 also, 5 listed because 76-77 and this year are tied).
      Comparing the winters of the 70's here is a list of yields form the following crop years comparing those to yield trends.

Crop year     Average yield/acre
1973-74       91.3
1974-75       71.9
1975-76       86.4
1976-77       88
1977-78       90.8
1978-79      101.0
1979-80      109.5
1980-81      91
1981-82      108.9

years following cold winters      This looks like there is actually a yield increase after a cold winter.

Several factors may be able to explain this.  #1  cool summers usually follow cold winters (favorable pollination)  #2 cold winters reduce insect overwintering  #3 cold winters reduce plant disease overwintering.

                                                                                        Serving together,  Dean