Washington Raspberries 2025
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson and this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. Washington raspberry growers have to be happy with the size and quality of this year’s crop.
Gavin Willis, Executive Director at the Washington Raspberry Commission, says this year’s harvest numbers show a 23% jump over last year …
WILLIS … “Yes, we do have the numbers in. We’re looking for this year at a hair over 68 million pounds, which is seventh highest that we’ve ever had in the state and the highest since 2018.
And the quality of this year’s raspberries, Willis says, by all accounts, has been outstanding as well …
WILLIS … “Yeah, quality was good. I think like the well-timed rains or avoiding too much moisture, which can always be a quality issue on the fruit, on the leaves. So, moisture levels there were good, but also like a couple of well-timed rains helped keep the dust down during harvest as well which is always beneficial for fruit quality. When you get too much dust stirred up in the fields, that can impact the quality of the fruit as it’s developing. So, yeah, I’d say it was a really good year for quality.”
But moving forward, Willis says the challenges aren’t likely going away …
WILLIS … “And then they’re always looking, big picture, at what are ways that we can make things better in the future, whether it’s improved labor availability, is there ways we can go to more automation, especially like at harvest, processing that kind of stuff? So, I’d say it’s kind of like the typical story of farming. There’s struggles there, but guys are able to adapt and find ways to get through it.”
Washington state produces 90% of the frozen raspberries in the U.S.
