YAKIMA – Cherry growers in the Pacific Northwest are optimistic they could top last year’s record harvest – and provide a long, cherry-filled summer for consumers.
The harvest is expected to include a number of new varieties that ripen later in the summer. It’s all good news after a year in which growers couldn’t meet demand.
“Last year we had a record crop, and we still couldn’t provide all the cherries we needed,” said B.J. Thurlby, president of Northwest Cherry Growers, a promotional group for growers and shippers.
California and the Pacific Northwest produce the bulk of the nation’s sweet cherries. Growers in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Utah harvested a record 117,000 tons of fresh cherries last year. The early estimate for the 2006 four-state fresh crop ranges between 110,000 and 130,000 tons, with much of the harvest in Washington.
If the weather stays warm, with no extended heavy rain, growers see potential for the harvest to come in at the higher end of that range, Thurlby said.
California begins its harvest several weeks ahead of the Pacific Northwest, but has estimated a reduced harvest as a result of bad weather during the pollination season.
“They won’t have close to enough to meet demand,” Thurlby said. “In the Northwest, we could have a real opportunity to get cherries on the shelves.”
Washington state has an estimated 29,000 acres of cherry orchards, up from about 25,000 acres in 2004. That number continues to increase as growers tear out apple orchards and replace them with cherry trees and wine grape vineyards, which have been more profitable in recent years.
In addition, many growers have planted varieties that ripen later in the season, extending the normal June-to-July season into August.
Bing cherries make up 60 percent of the Washington state crop, down from 80 percent about 10 years ago. They have been replaced by the later-ripening varieties, such as Sweetheart and Lapin cherries. As a result, the harvest from mid-July to mid-August should grow by about 5 percent, Thurlby said.
Susan Fox, who operates C &S Orchards on Stemilt Hill near Wenatchee with her husband, hopes to contribute to that increase. They don’t usually start picking cherries until mid-July.
“Depending on Mother Nature, we should have no trouble setting fruit,” Fox said, noting that the orchard produced about 1,100 tons last year. “It should be larger. We’re hoping it’s more.”
Northwest Cherry Growers is aiming to increase sales by as much as 30 percent this year. The group also is strengthening sales and marketing efforts in Asia – where Taiwan is the biggest offshore market and China is a rapidly growing customer – and in Mexico.
Cherry growers had been barred from exporting to Mexico until late in the season last year.
“Most Mexicans don’t eat cherries. They don’t grow them, and we’ve never had access,” Thurlby said. “It’s going to be an uphill battle for the next five or six years, but we’re going to go in with our guns firing.”
Thurlby said promotional campaigns include a Hispanic dance contest in three regions south of the border, with the championships in Cancun in mid-July, and a separate campaign with The Hershey Co., which is promoting cherry-filled Hershey’s Kisses in Mexico.
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