The team at Global Fruit is busy putting in the miles to assess the buds/flowers and the potential for BC’s 2022 cherry crop. The company has more than 1,500 acres in production, including their own farm as well as 30 contracted growers.
The photo on the left shows the Sentennial variety in an orchard north of Kelowna. Global Fruit is seeing an average of three flowers per bud on all varieties this year, which is ideal for good size and quality.
The photo at the right is the Rainier variety in Lake Country. The UFO trees blossom abundantly. UFO stands for Upright Fruiting Offshoot and means the trees are planted at an angle in the ground and trained to encourage fruiting wood in upright branches that can be tied to wires to protect from wind damage. This training style also makes harvest planning and pruning easy and efficient.
Sentennial and Rainier varieties.
The photo directly below shows those UFO trees and the wind turbine that helps protect against spring frosts. "Thankfully, we have seen only a limited amount of spring frost damage and great conditions for pollination."
UFO trees and wind turbine.
The next picture shows the Staccato variety in one of Global Fruit's own orchards in Creston, BC. The buds aren't even open, providing confidence for a decent separation between regions and great opportunity for supply all the way through August.
Many orchards have been visited these past few days and Global Fruit is happy about the potential for this year's crop.
For more information:
Richard Isaacs
Global Fruit – Commercial Director
Tel: (+1) 250-428-2320
richard@globalfruit.org
www.globalfruit.org