COLGATE, Wis. (CBS 58) — An EF-0 tornado that hit Washington County Tuesday night passed directly over Basse's Farms in Colgate, damaging crops ahead of one of the farm's biggest annual events.

Hundreds of apples were knocked to the ground, while strong winds flattened portions of the farm's sunflower fields.

"The sunflowers were looking amazing. They were like 6 feet tall and just ready to open up and all that stuff," Basse's Farms owner Roger Basse said.

The farm is preparing to kick off its annual Apple & Sunflower Fest during the final weekend of August.

"We're gonna kind of make new trails in the sunflower patch," Basse said. "It'll be not the photo ops we wanted, but maybe better, maybe different. Sunflowers might be a little more unique with a little more turn to them."

The farm has dealt with severe summer weather ahead of the festival before, including flooding in 2025 and hail in 2024.

"We put all our money and all our hard work into the soil, and it can be destroyed in seconds," Basse said.

Despite the tornado damage, Basse said 2026 has been a strong growing year for apples and sunflowers, and the festival will begin as scheduled.

"Our trees were loaded this year, and still there's plenty of apples out there," Basse said. "There's gonna be plenty of sunflowers out there."