Cherries Midseason 2026
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Northwest cherry harvest got off to one of its earliest starts this year, but it has been a decent year for cherry production volume wise.
And Eric Patrick, President of the Washington State Fruit Commission and Northwest Cherry Growers, says it’s been a very good year for cherry quality …
PATRICK … “We have had a very strong quality season from day 1, just really nice sized cherries and a lot of the newer varieties, Black Pearls and varieties like that that start off the season. We had great size and great consumer acceptance.”
The numbers, Patrick says are down, but not a lot …
PATRICK … “The crop is down. We were estimating somewhere in the 18 to 19 million box region. And we’ll end up being somewhere between 16 to 17 million boxes most likely, so a smaller crop than we’ve experienced in the last three or four years.”
And the drought conditions we’ve been so worried about, Patrick says have been cooperating …
PATRICK … “The growing season, you know, it’s been a pretty mild growing season overall. We haven’t had real hot summer days. I think this might be one of our hotter weeks that we’ve had so far. So, just the temperature has been nice and moderate and it’s been great growing weather and that’s turned into great tasting cherries.”
So, if you haven’t had a chance to get your cherries yet, there’s still time …
PATRICK … “Just depending on how late the season goes, Northwest cherries will be a little bit harder to find, but they’ll be available into probably mid-August at some level.”
Again, that’s Eric Patrick, President of Northwest Cherry Growers and Washington State Fruit Commission.
