06/26/07 Latest On The Cherries

Latest on the Cherries. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. As I'm putting this report together I'm snacking on a big bowl of the firmest, biggest and sweetest bowl of cherries I think I've ever seen. And yes, it's cherry time according to Gip Redman with the Oregon Cherry growers. REDMAN: We just have outstanding quality. The packs are clean, the sizes are big so you've got these shiny, big, sweet cherries that are firm and the cool weather is making it tough to harvest in certain ways because the blocks aren't ripening as fast as you think they are. Redman says that the cool weather has been a bit of a help with labor though. REDMAN: So that has taken the pressure off the picker shortages which I haven't heard too many of and you're getting by with a few less people. Cool weather means the cherries are staying firm and not getting too ripe and you're staying up on the harvest so those are all great things. For some reason though I hear a but in Gip's voice. REDMAN: The tonnage part is the problem and the other big story is that small crops get smaller. A lot of estimations that were done are off by a ways. In some cases, close but by more cases we're not being as accurate as we as a field staff would like to think. By general estimations the cherry harvest is about half way done but there are a number of later varieties that haven't ripened yet so for a while we cherry lovers will still have good, fresh, sweet cherries to snack on. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.