2023 cherry harvest looking optimistic

WENATCHEE — The cherry harvest is coming in full this year, according to the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. The weather conditions that have played havoc with some other Washington crops, like hay, have been a real boon for cherry growers, according to Tim Kovis, WSTFA’s director of communications.

“We had that cold end of winter, early spring,” Kovis said. “Early estimates for (harvest) had delayed us about 15-20 days. However, I’ve been talking to some folks around Washington, and they’ve actually said that in the last month, we’ve had kind of ideal growing conditions.”

Last year’s harvest in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah combined was about 12.5 million boxes, Kovis said. This year it’s estimated to be nearly double that at 22.2 million boxes. The largest crop the WSTFA has on record is 28 million boxes in 2017, Kovis added.

The quality of the fruit is looking good as well, Kovis said.

“Once it began to get warm at the end of May, things really sped up,” he said. “We were seeing really good cell division and development of cherries. There were some concerns about sizing issues, but those seem to (have lessened) with this nice, warm temperature that we’ve experienced.”

That’s not something that can be said every year, Kovis explained.

“Last year, we got all that snow and rain and wind when a lot of our trees were in bloom and needed to be pollinated. So that was problematic,” he said. “And two years ago, we had that the heat dome right around this time. And that was problematic. Because growers had to do a number of things shifting around harvest schedules, and the heat wasn’t good for cherries to begin with. Every growing season is different, so our members have to be agile in cherry harvest to account for all of the variables.”

Washington is the No. 1 producer of sweet cherries in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and even a bad year here is better than a good year in many other states. But cherries can be finicky little things. They like steady temperatures in the 75- to 85-degree window, Kovis said, and when the heat climbs into the 90s, the trees slow down and are less productive.

The variable schedule has made finding workers to pick the fruit a challenge, Kovis said.

“This year we’re seeing, overall, less of a domestic workforce,” he said. “And the California cherry harvest, they were delayed, and so they’ve gone longer. Some of those workers that have done the cherry harvest in California are now just leaving California to come to the northwest. So that is causing some angst, trying to figure out where you’re going to get your labor.”

Washington growers will have to rely on the H2A guest worker program a little more this year than in the past, he added.

“A number of growers have told me that they don’t have to go to Las Vegas,” Kovis said with a chuckle. “They grow cherries, and that’s enough of a gamble. But so far, things are looking optimistic.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.