Saturday, Jul. 11, 2009

Cherry harvest a bit sour

Ingrid Stegemoeller, Herald staff writer

ELTOPIA -- The record cherry harvest expected this year in Washington state may seem like sweet news.

But for growers such as Gary Middleton, it means leaving tons of fruit on the trees because some cherries are too small to meet market demand and it's too expensive to sort out bigger cherries.

"This big crop has been anything but a blessing," said the Eltopia orchardist, explaining that of his more than 400-ton crop, only about 45 tons will make it to market.

Walking through his orchards Friday, Middleton held up branches heavy with mahogany Bing cherries, some of which were large enough to sell, some not.

"It's not economically feasible to go in there and pick them," he said.

He's not alone, as cherry growers across the state are trying to figure out whether they can make money off their fruit.

"Everybody has to decide whether it's in their best interest financially to pick certain blocks of fruit and deliver them to the warehouses," said Kirk Mayer, manager of the Washington Growers Clearing House Association.

"At the current time we're in our peak harvest period and the warehouses are being overwhelmed by the amount of cherries they're receiving. As of right now (packing houses) are restricting the ability of growers to bring in certain sizes," he said. "Some growers are deciding not to harvest particular blocks because the average (fruit) size isn't large enough."

Mayer said part of the issue comes from delayed ripening in some areas because of cool weather earlier this year, so more regions are producing cherries at the same time.

"Cherries are coming in from more geographical areas at the same time than normal," Mayer said.

Many growers in the Tri-City area, such as Jeff Gordon in Pasco, finished picking before the swell in supply.

"We got done," said Gordon, who grows about 30 acres of Bings and Rainiers. "But everybody knew that was going to happen. Everything came into bloom at the same time."

Middleton started picking at the end of June, about two weeks later than usual. He and his workers got those cherries to the packing house, only to find out they might be too small.

And the process of sorting cherries of the right size -- which can mean a difference of 3/64 of an inch -- became too expensive.

"I could see I had to stop the bleeding, so we stopped completely," Middleton said.

While the heartbreak of seeing his beautiful cherries going to waste was evident on Middleton's face as he walked one of his orchards, some of the fruit will go to good use.

Volunteers with Fields of Grace, an organization that harvests crops that otherwise would be left in the field, have made a couple of visits to Middleton's orchards already this year and planned to be back today, said Alissa Watkins, program coordinator.

Fields of Grace partners with Second Harvest Tri-Cities, which distributes gleaned produce such as the cherries free of cost to area food banks, she said.

Volunteers have put in more than 600 hours picking cherries this year at a handful of orchards, Watkins said, and by the time they finish at Middleton's orchards they likely will have harvested more than 10,000 pounds -- or 40,000 servings -- of cherries.

"These farmers are just delighted to know somebody's going to enjoy their cherries," she said.

In 2007 and 2008, volunteers gleaned 2,100 and 2,500 pounds of cherries, respectively, she said.

Dave Paul, regional director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency in Spokane, said his organization is meeting with insurance companies to figure out how to best protect growers.

"We do recognize that it is a heavy crop and that some of the warehouses are telling producers not to deliver their fruit," he said.

More than 21,500 acres of cherries in the state are covered by a pilot policy in its first year, Paul said. The policy, giving $142 million in coverage across the state, provides a guarantee based on a grower's revenue history rather than a minimum dollar amount, he said.

Prices also have dropped this year compared with 2007, Mayer said. Last year was an anomaly because a spring frost wiped out a significant portion of the crop.

Bing cherries were fetching an average of $27.13 for the equivalent of a 20-pound box for the week ending July 4, he said. That compares with $37.38 for the week ending July 7, 2007.

Mayer said he's hoping the oversupply will work itself out as the season progresses.

For now, growers with a high percentage of large-size fruit, as determined by packing houses, likely will be in good shape, he said, but those who have smaller than average size are not doing so well.

"Warehouses are working with the growers and making decisions based on market demand and ability to process that fruit in a timely manner," Mayer said. "This is a very challenging year so far. We've got excellent quality cherries but that's not going to translate back to much money to the growers."

For more information about Fields of Grace, visit www.fields-of-grace.com.

-- Ingrid Stegemoeller: 582-1537; istegemoeller@tricityherald.com; Business Beat blog at www.tricityherald.com