US(CA): Cherry crop reduced by 50 percent

“We’ve had nine rain events this season between bloom and harvest of the cherry crop,” says Matt Nowak with Delta Packing. “It’s so much more than the usual one or two rain events that it has had a major impact on this year’s crop.” 

The crop that is 10 to 12 days out from being harvested is most susceptible to cracks and splitting as the fruit is still growing. Because of rainfall during this stage in the cycle, quality of the crop has really been affected. “We have been averaging a pack-out rate of 50-55 percent. So, about half of the crop is being packed in the packing house and the other half is sold in the secondary market, to processors for instance,” mentioned Nowak. “Some growers did not even have any fruit to pack. The rains have made for a very challenging year.”

The optical sorting technology has been a saving grace this season. “We would have never been able to manually sort out such a large amount of fruit with quality issues. Even the stuff that made it into the box doesn’t have the legs it typically has. The rains have impacted shelf-life and the fruit doesn’t last as long,” shared Nowak.

Winter started out well for the cherry trees with rain, lots of cold weather and fog. This year had the potential to be an unbelievable year in terms of yields. According to early estimates, the crop had the potential to be 8 to 9 million boxes in size. That would have been a significant upturn from the 6 million boxes packed last year. Instead, about 4.5 million boxes will be packed. Harvest is expected to finish up by this weekend or the early part of next week.

Labor has been another challenge the cherry industry has been dealing with. It is hard to find the labor for picking and packing the fruit. “Additionally, labor costs have gone up and by 2017/2018 we may be faced with a minimum wage of $15 per hour,” shared Nowak. “Between labor, drought and rains, the past few years have been very challenging.”

For more information:

Matt Nowak

Tel: (+1) 209-334-1023