Life is more than just a bowl of cherries for those involved in the fruit industry this year. If yields meet expectations, Utah Valley fruit farmers may harvest a record number of cherries.
Sweet and tart cherries sometimes yield more than a third of the valley's $10 million fruit crop. In recent years, though, both have been hit hard by cold weather damage - especially with the sweet crops taking a severe hit from freezes in winter 1990 and spring 1991.This year, however, local fruit farms seem to have been spared Jack Frost's wrath. Unseasonably mild and warm temperatures have benefited the fruit growers, who have seen more than their share of bad weather and pest damage since 1983. In fact, the only problem facing farmers this year may be getting all the cherries off the trees before they get too ripe.
"We could be busier than ever," said Morris Ercanbrack, Orem. "The trees look loaded, so we could have our heaviest crop in about 10 years."
Ercanbrack and his family own 275 acres throughout Orem and Genola. Last year alone, the Ercanbracks lost about 75 percent of their sweet cherry crops after early April frosts weakened trees before pollination. This year, Ercanbrack said, the trees have recovered, and Utah County could see near-record yields, at least for the cherry crop.
The experts seem to agree. Tony Hatch, a Utah State University extension services agent, told the Deseret News earlier this year that the cherry crop could exceed all expectations, breaking long-held records of 12,000 tons for tart (or pie) cherries and 5,000 tons for the sweet varieties. Some nagging doubts still remain, though.
"We're still a little worried about the weather," Ercanbrack said. "A hard rain could still damage some of the ripening fruit."
Ercanbrack and his workers have begun spot-picking their cherries, checking to see which trees have the fullest crops. The full cherry harvest starts next week, about two weeks ahead of schedule.
Most farmers the Deseret News contacted say they have crews ready for harvests. Should they be unable to pick all the fruit before its ripens, farmers can still use the fruit for maraschino cherries (though brine cherries are usually reserved for that purpose).
While the early harvest season means the farmers can get a jump on their counterparts across the nation, managers at local fruit-packing plants are scrambling to get their help in place for the first big rush of fruit.
"We knew it was coming, so we've had some things ready," said Dave White, assistant manager for Provo's Muir-Roberts Co. Inc. "The big problem has been with our more experienced help."
Muir-Roberts, with plants in both Provo and Payson, usually relies on an experienced staff for its plant supervisors. A good percentage of that help comes from off-season educators, who supplement their pay with the summer jobs, White said.
"But with school just getting out, they like to leave on vacation, so we've got to rush to keep them here," White said. "Hopefully we can get done early this year and they can take their vacations later on."