06/15/06 And then the Rain Came

And then the rain came. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Cherry growers across the Mid-Columbia region of Washington had been looking forward to a bumper crop this year. And just a few days before harvest was to begin in earnest, the rain started falling. In an area that is typically known for its arid region an unusually large amount of rain fell over a 48 hour period. Initial estimates are that upwards of half this years Bing and Rainier crop may be lost. However according to David Severn at NW Cherries this doesn't mean the complete crop is lost. SEVERN: There's a lot of growers out there and fieldmen out there that are kind of accessing that situation especially down in the Tri-Cities. I think there are a lot people out there that think they have a manageable crop out on the trees so I wouldn't call it quits yet. Severn says that the area affected by the rain accounts for only about 15% of the overall NW cherry crop. SEVERN: There's a lot of our growing districts that weren't affected by the rain as well so it's pretty important that consumers know that there's a lot of cherries still out here in the northwest that are going to be harvested this summer. Fieldman Jim Kelly was out early in Benton County making assessments of the damage. KELLY: Basically I've got all across the board. I've got some really poor samples coming in and some better than expected samples coming in but generally every block has some damage. I think there's going to be some crops that aren't going to be picked but that probably will be limited to certain crop levels. Kelly was making his way into Franklin County and reported that the areas of Kennewick and Finley seemed to be the hardest hit. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.