NW Cherry Outlook
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. With Northwest Cherry harvest within days of starting, things are looking sweet on the trees!
Eric Patrick, president of the Washington State Fruit Commission, says growers are working together and ready to get things started …
PATRICK … “We had our five-state meeting last Wednesday. And that represents the five states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Montana. And it was kind of a two-fold meeting. We’ve got the growers that are represented there in the warehouses. We come up with a number so between that, we also do a crop estimation report pretty much weekly that estimates kind of what we’re seeing.”
And this year’s numbers, Patrick says aren’t too bad …
PATRICK … “So, we put that crop somewhere in the 18.4 to 19.2 million boxes, slightly below the five-year average, but right at there and it’s really a nice promotable number. It’s big enough for retailers throughout the nation and throughout the world to back it up and do good promotions.”
While not as big as last year’s crop, Patrick says there could still be an upside …
PATRICK … “Sometime when the crop is that size too, we see cherries get a little bit bigger. You know, last year we had 23.6 million boxes, and sometimes when you get a little bit smaller crop that’s then when cherries can grow extra size too, so we might gain some additional tonnage just on the quality of fruit on the trees.”
Due to warm weather, California’s sweet cherry harvest is about two weeks ahead of last year, which means there shouldn’t be much overlap between Washington and California cherries.
