After years in the making, the US Pacific Northwest cherry industry expects to see at last the record crop that everyone knew was possible for the 2012 season. Not merely incrementally more fruit – potentially a lot more.
The combination of nearly perfect pre-season growing conditions, greatly expanded acreage, and well-rested trees from two years of relatively light production is expected to produce a crop that should easily eclipse the previous high watermark of 20.5m 9.1 kg-cartons set during the 2009 season. Just how much packed fruit will be shipped from the Northwest this year remains a matter of speculation within the industry.
“It’s still early, but the ‘guesstimates’ I’m hearing around the industry so far are for around 24-25m cartons,” said Randy Eckert of Yakima Fresh.
“Maybe 21m cartons? We’re seeing a huge crop out there. Just how much fruit is the question,” predicted Roger Pepperl of Stemilt Growers.
“25m cartons wouldn’t surprise me,” added Marc Pflugrath of Columbia Marketing International. “We’re heading into uncharted waters with this deal.”
“Our early estimate is for a cherry crop of something over 20m cartons – similar to what the industry saw three years ago,” said BJ Thurlby of the Northwest Cherry Growers (NWCG). “It could easily be more, however.”
The final carton count for the 2012 season will only be known when the last fruit is shipped from Northwest coldstores, probably around the end of August. But whether or not it happens this year, a record-shattering crop is only a matter of time, as the Northwest industry (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Montana) has been on a cherry-tree-planting binge for the last two decades.
According to the USDA, cherry acreage in Washington State alone has increased by 216 per cent since the 1991 season to more than 38,000 acres (15,380ha). Improved cultural practices – such as more trees planted to the acre, which have improved yields and varieties that naturally produce larger diameter fruit – have also contributed to increasing production. Most of the new acreage has been planted to the ‘late’ varieties, such as Sweet Heart and Skeena. This has the Northwest’s production now running through most of the month of August.
For a full report, see Asiafruit June 2012.
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