Cherries and Weather Extremes Pt 1

From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. The weather for growers is hardly ever the same year to year, but the weather extremes the past couple of years are keeping growers on their toes as we enter a third straight La Nina winter.

Northwest Cherry Growers President, BJ Thurlby says like the heat dome in June of 2021 left the crop completely different before and after …

THURLBY … “The fruit that was left on the trees was not the same fruit that they were hoping to pick three or four days before that. So, it really made for a challenge the last few years and we’re, more than anything, I think all of us as cherry growers are hoping that we get out of this La Nina pattern and maybe go back to old El Nino.”

But those extremes are nearly impossible to predict …

THURLBY … “And “extreme” is the perfect word to use to describe what we’ve seen the last couple of years. So, the hope is, is that we get back to what is having a normal crop of 22-23 million boxes. Last year’s crop of 13.3 million, you know, it moved through the system, that the export markets were down drastically.”

And markets, Thurlby says are another challenge …

THURLBY … “And there’s a couple things at play there. Number one, if our national, local retailers around here want to pay the same amount of money for the cherries that the export markets do, and that’s what we saw last year, which was something a little different than normal because this crop was so short, we just don’t export as much. But then the other scenario is the U.S. dollar is so strong right now.”

Tune in tomorrow for more on our cherry crop in a third straight La Nina winter.