NW Cherry Harvest Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. Northwest cherries harvest is underway and they’re beginning to appear on store shelves.
Washington State Tree Fruit Association President, Jon DeVaney says cherry lovers around the world should also get a chance to enjoy them …
DeVANEY … “We’re having a lot of conversations nationally about trade, but about 30% of our cherries are exported and those are to markets that generally pay good pricing for our cherries.”
Certain markets, DeVaney says are the focus …
DeVANEY … “We bring a lot of money into the Northwest economy from exporting cherries to Latin America, Canada, and East Asia in particular.”
And as summer kicks in, the tree fruit industry will be watching …
DeVANEY … “We have been looking at expectations of both warm and dry weather this summer. So, that creates a little bit of concern. We have taken steps to make sure that even with the constrained water environment that those critical perennial crops like tree fruit are going to have access to water they need to keep their trees alive and grow their crops.”
So, this year, export markets should be able to take advantage of our supply …
DeVANEY … “Yes! That’s certainly what we want. We want to be able to supply consumers. One of the great things about cherries is because the seasons are fairly short, you’re not generally competing against as many domestic producers in export markets as well. We can often have our timing not conflicting with theirs.”
This year’s Northwest cherry crop is expected to be 9%
larger than last year.
