Cherry Season Hopes
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. With Northwest cherry harvest about to begin, growers are hoping to see better pricing this year.
Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, says the recent five state cherry grower’s meeting gave them some idea of what to expect …
DeVANEY … “So, the overall crop is a bit down from last year, but at 18.4 million boxes or so estimated at that five state cherry meeting, that’s really, still a good marketable crop of Northwest Cherries.”
But demand for our Northwest cherries, DeVaney says has never been the problem …
DeVANEY … “There’s always consumer demand for our cherries, it’s just the pricing is not always there to reward the growers for the great work they’ve done.”
Which, DeVaney says takes us back to what happened last year …
DeVANEY … “That was the frustrating situation last year where many growers said they had some of the most beautiful cherries they’d ever had, and their pricing was some of the worst they’d had or quite awhile and they actually lost a fair bit of money which is, you know, extremely frustrating to be punished for doing a great job.”
But that, DeVaney says is all part of the game when it comes
to farming …
DeVANEY … “Everyone in agriculture is used to not necessarily having every variable under your control. But, this year, with a slightly smaller crop, the hope is that that will lead to some better pricing on the wholesale side for those producers.”
DeVaney says harvest will begin any day and will peak through late June into the Fourth of July or so.
