FruitFast

Farmers are always at the mercy of Mother Nature and that has been borne out once again with early predictions for the 2010 fruit harvest here in northern Michigan.

After a bumper crop in 2009, Montmorency tart cherry growers say harvest numbers will drop considerably after a yo-yo temperature range this spring that affected the fruit.

A check with my farming buddies points to this conclusion:

Early snowmelt, followed by unseasonably warm temperatures this spring, hastened the fruit’s development.  May frosts killed the blossoms and this will result in a lighter crop yield overall.  Some grower’s trees were affected more than others, but expectations are that the harvest could be down 50 percent or more.  Official estimates from the USDA are expected soon.

But there is always a silver lining.  Due to perfect growing conditions here in the Cherry Capital of the World last season, there is plenty of fruit in storage to meet the needs of the consumer and processors.

The supply of cherries should remain stable and – we are happy to say – that includes Montmorency tart cherries for our CherryFlex products.