Despite Slow Start, Local Cherry Harvest Looking Good

So far, the 2020 cherry harvest has been a unique one, not because of coronavirus or trade issues, but Mother Nature. B.J. Thurlby, President of the Washington State Tree Fruit Commission, said the weather has not been cooperating with growers, creating slowdowns in the harvest.

“There is some damage, it’s not super extensive, it’s certainly more prevalent in the orchards of my earlier growers.  So, when I say we’re just trickling out we seem to just get some momentum going and then we’ve had a weather event where it either turned cool or we’ve actually had a little bit of rain.”

As of June 3^rd, Washington growers has shipped just under one million boxes of cherries. Looking at the entire season, Thurlby anticipates this year’s crop will come in between 17-18 million boxes, which means there’s still a lot of fruit to pick over the next two plus months.

“The fruit I’ve seen so far, has been very impressive.  We’ve been lucky.  California had really good cherries this year, and the northwest seems to be following hand in hand with that, and the fruit that we’re shipping is big, has sugars, and it’s the kind of fruit that’s going to get consumers excited to go back and buy them again.”

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