Cherry Outlook Pt 1

Cherry Outlook Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. Two years after a record warm Winter, growers across the state are experiencing a record cold Winter and waiting to see how the forecast plays out ...

BJ THURLBY-1XX = 8 ... "Ya know, from the standpoint of the cherry grower, we're the furthest behind that we've ever been and this has been the coldest winter that we've had on record."

Northwest Cherry Grower's president BJ Thurlby says here we are in the second week of March with little change ...

BJ THURLBY-1 = 31 ... "As an example, the Tri City's, we measure something that's called "degree units," and basically it starts from January 1st and it's like every day, or every hour in every day, over 43 degrees becomes a degree unit. So, this year we're at 99. This is for, for instance for the Tri City's which is the warmest part in the state of Washington, we're at 99 and last year we were at 321, at this time. And last year was a warm Winter and Spring all the way around, but normal is 275."

But, Thurlby says the cold Winter doesn't mean growers have been left with nothing to do ...

BJ THURLBY-2 = 19 ... "If you're a modern-day producer of tree fruit, you're actually out there in the middle of snow and you're pruning your trees and getting them trimmed down so you end up with fruit the meets the market's expectations. So, the pruning deal has actually, and there's still pruning, it's so cold there's a ton of time for pruning. There's no flowers opening up over here. We're not even close."

Thurlby says cherry growers will keep an eye on the forecast, especially for the next few weeks.

Tune in tomorrow for more on the what the growers are expecting from their record setting Winter.

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