Cherry harvest expected to be strong

CASHMERE — Cherries are looking good this year, said Jon DeVaney, executive director of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association.  

“We’re looking at a crop that will be a bit bigger than last year’s,” DeVaney said. “We had some weather problems that compressed the crop in 2023, and so having a more normal crop last year was good. It was about 19.5 million (boxes). We’re looking now at a forecast of about 21.4 million, not the biggest crop we’ve ever had but about 10% bigger than last year.”

That figure is for the harvest in five states, DeVaney said: Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho and Montana. About 81% of the cherries sold in those states are grown in Washington, he said.

Conditions for growing have been favorable, said Pasco grower Shawn Gay.

“The weather’s been really good to us temperature-wise,” Gay said. “So, our quality looks really good.” 

Timing is crucial with cherries, DeVaney said. 

“Cherries are a very perishable crop,” he said. “They don’t store the way apples and pears do, so the timing of how fruit will ripen and what time fruit will hit the market is a big concern for growers.”

That’s one reason Washington joins with the other states to market its crop, DeVaney explained. Fruit can be grown under different conditions to ripen at different times.

“We’ve got a lot of different varieties and different elevations that allow different timings,” Gay said. “Because the last cherries go into August, as you go higher elevation stuff (you get) later varieties. When we’re picking a variety, we have about a week to get them picked off. Sometimes days when it’s really hot, that’s dicey.”

This year’s predictions look much rosier for Washington than for California, DeVaney said. California produced about 9 million boxes, he said, and this year is predicted to have closer to 5 million.

Some of the issues that were expected to bedevil farmers have proven less of a problem, DeVaney said. The ongoing negotiations over tariffs could have influenced the Chinese export market, he said, but those tariffs were suspended for 90 days in May. That delay will allow this year’s cherry season to finish before they go into effect. The tariffs have had a few secondary ripple effects that affect the growers’ supply chain, like retail cherry bags, but for the most part the industry has been fairly unaffected.

“What that means for consumers is we’re expecting a good-sized, high-quality cherry crop that folks can enjoy through the summer months,” DeVaney said.

    Jon DeVaney, executive director of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association.
 COURTESY PHOTO/WASHINGTON STATE TREE FRUIT ASSOCIATION