Francois Soubeyrand, cherry producer in the Ardeche, says that since last Sunday ''it has rained continuously, and even in small quantity, harm is done''.
Entire harvests have to go to waste as ''once they are split, they are no longer marketable''. At first the rain nourished the cherries following the heat in the region, but then, too full of water, they split and cannot absorb more liquid. ''The loss is between 60-100%'' says the producer who explains that there is only one harvest of 'late' cherries per year. The late variety (contrary to Burlats that arrive end of May) mature for the summer in July.
Normally 80 pickers work on the 17 ha , but this week they have only worked 16 hours between Monday and Friday. Mr Soubeyrand says, ''in 30 years in the business, I have never seen such a loss!''