So, How About That Cherry Crop

So, How About That Cherry Crop. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Reruns. TV has them...radio shows do them and now the cherry industry. Last year the crop ran about two weeks late and according to BJ Thurlby with NW Cherries...you got it...two weeks late again. But there is good news.

THURLBY: Overall I think we’re in pretty good consensus so far as an industry. We think that there’s probably 16 to 17 million boxes still out there. The bloom this year which was very spread out and overall we had reasonable bloom weather but we’re thinking we’re going to get 80 to 85 days to sell this crop and the large portion of it is going to be later than earlier.

That is good news. I need to mention that the cherry tree in my front yard is only now beginning to show some color on the fruit.

THURLBY: On the downside we’re going to probably be short of product coming into the 4th of July. That’s never a good thing because the 4th of July is the number one produce sales holiday in the year and cherries happen to be the Belle of the Ball when it comes to the 4th of July so that’s kind of a sad piece of this season that we’re seeing. But the upside is the cherries are far enough behind that we’re kind of missing a bit of that May rain and early June rain that is very common here in the northwest and we’re hoping it stays away.

Thurlby does say though that there will be more cherries available in July. More on Monday on the 2011 cherry crop.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.