Cherry harvest is underway across the Inland Northwest, but it’s not without a few challenges. Last weekend’s thunderstorms dumped rain on groves at a very bad time, and on-top of that, some locations in the lower Yakima Valley have reported frost over the past two weeks. Because of that, many growers are using more propane to help, whether for wind machines, or equipment used for harvest. Ryan Schutt with Bleyhl said propane prices are low, so now is the time to purchase.

“Oil prices crashed, so right now is the time to fill up tanks, because it’s very cheap, and it’s going up daily.”

Schutt added a lot of growers are also using their sprayers to blow water off the fruit to prevent cracking, meaning farmers will need to purchase additional diesel as well. But, fuel is not the only way Bleyhl is helping cherry growers.

“For orchard/vineyard supplies, which our stores carry, [we have] the bags to dump the cherries all the different supplies to help pick them, making it easier for the pickers to bend, stuff like that," Schutt added. "And then also on the agronomy side, we’re helping with different crop protections, so we pretty much do everything you can think of for cherry harvest.”

Bleyhl has five stores across Central Washington, including Pasco, Prosser, Grandview, Sunnyside, Zillah, as well as fuel stations in Toppenish and Sunnyside. Click Here to learn more about Bleyhl.


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