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Cherry regions experience two different springs

USDA is expecting consumers to have ample supplies of fresh sweet cherries this year while tart cherry production is reduced.

Lance Honig with the National Agricultural Statistics Service says good spring conditions have been good for Washington’s sweet cherries, which grow about two-thirds of the nation’s crop. “It’s a fairly normal sized production so there certainly should be plenty of sweet cherries to go around this year.”      

For the nation’s largest tart cherry producer, Michigan, Honig says it’s a different story. “Across most of the U.S., this spring hasn’t been ideal, lot of rain, lot of cooler temperatures actually leading to a little bit of a delay in the tart cherry crop.  Overall, we’re expecting just a little bit of a drop in production there.” 

USDA is expecting 362 million tons of sweet cherries this year, up five percent, and 290 million pounds of tart cherries, down three percent.