Tag: cherries

Coping With a Historically Low Crop in the Cherry Capital

  • A blossom on a cherry tree (Photo by Markus Lehtonen).

The great loss of cherries

Earlier this month most of the counties in Michigan were designated disaster areas for agriculture. Michigan is the largest producer of tart cherries in the nation and this year, the state lost 90 percent of its crop.

Ben LaCross is one of the many farmers who is trying to cope in what is known to be the Cherry Capital of the world. He manages 750 acres of cherries in Leelanau County, just outside Traverse City.

Transcript

While walking through his cherry orchard next to his family’s home he points out that there are zero cherries on the trees when usually around this time of year, each of his trees would be holding 50 to 100 pounds of the crop.

LaCross just got done harvesting his cherry crop for the season. He said in a normal year he harvests 4.5 million pounds of cherries in five weeks. This year it only took one week to harvest 4 percent of his annual yield.

“So what we harvested this year in a week we would normally do on an average day,” LaCross said.

The freeze

The loss of cherries in the region is a result of an early tease of summer followed by a frost.

“You don’t tend to associate a natural disaster with 80 degree sunny days,” he said.

LaCross said after more than a week of warm weather in March, the buds on his cherry trees began to swell, only to be decimated by 19 nights of freezing temperatures a few weeks later. LaCross said this may be the worst harvest in recorded history.

A decade of bad harvests

Cherry growers talk a lot about 2002. That was a terrible year as well. But LaCross says farmers had tarts in reserve back then that they could sell to pay the bills.

“So it has basically taken us 10 years to regain those markets and now we have another catastrophic freeze event,” he said.

And this time around, there are no reserves. Because the last two harvests have been lean ones.

“There’s nothing in the inventory pipeline to supply our customer bases,” LaCross said.

Getting creative with the few cherries available

So that means LaCross is going to have to import cherries for the first time in order to keep his customers.

“We are trying to be creative to how we can stretch what little of a crop there is out there,” he said.

And LaCross isn’t alone.

In Traverse City shoppers are tasting the 15 dozen cherry products sold at Cherry Republic. Here you can find chocolate covered cherries, cherry peanut butter and cherry salsa to name a few.

Owner, Bob Sutherland said he is creating new products this year to stretch the few cherries available by mixing more cranberries, nuts and chocolate into the company’s treats.  

“For the first time we have a truce with cranberries. And the war with cranberries is on a one year off,” Sutherland said.

And like LaCross, Cherry Republic will also be importing cherries for the first time in the business’ history.

“Our first choice is Michigan but I want to keep my bakers baking, my jammers jamming and our driers going so we do need to source cherries wherever we can,” Sutherland said.

That means when people start seeing cherry products from Michigan companies this year, a lot of those cherries will be coming from places like Poland and Turkey.

What's next for cherry growers

But back on Leelanau peninsula, cherry farmer Ben LaCross is hopeful there will be a good harvest next cherry season.

“There’s an old saying in farming that, ‘we’ve had two good years in the cherry business, 1991 and next year.’ So we can’t wait for next year at this point,” he said.

The government is working on ways to help farmers like LaCross. Low interest loans are available to farmers this year and the federal Farm Bill could give growers more help, like adding crop insurance for boutique fruits like tart cherries.  In the meantime, farmers will hope Mother Nature will produce a fruitful crop next year.

Emily Fox- Michigan Radio Newsroom

Fruit Frostbite From Record Lows

Freezing temperatures recently descended on large sections of the country.
Record lows were registered from the south to the plains states. The
prolonged frost means entire crops of fruit and grain could be lost. Adam
Allington reports:

Transcript

Freezing temperatures recently descended on large sections of the country.
Record lows were registered from the South to the Plains states. The
prolonged frost means entire crops of fruit and grain could be lost. Adam
Allington reports:


Paul Peters has 500 acres of apples and peaches in central Missouri. Peters
says above average temperatures during the day and night advanced the
growing season by 2-3 weeks:


“We really didn’t cool down at night; I think probably was more of a concern then
reaching 60-70 degrees in the daytime. One of my partners here said he’d never seen an
apple blossom in March and this year he did.”


But then a week-long frost hit, right when crops were at their most
vulnerable.


Extensive damage has also been reported on crops of winter wheat, grapes
and cherries.


Some farmers will be able to till under failed wheat and alfalfa crops and
substitute corn. However, it may not be that simple since corn seed supplies
are already tight from higher than normal plantings for ethanol production.


For the Environment Report, I’m Adam Allington.

Related Links

Farm Workers Back in Court to Fight Pesticide

Environmental groups are back in
court to challenge the use of the main pesticide
used in growing cherries and apples. Bob Allen
reports the environmentalists had set aside their
lawsuit while waiting for EPA to issue new rules
for applying the chemical during a phase-out period:

Transcript

Environmental groups are back in
court to challenge the use of the main pesticide
used in growing cherries and apples. Bob Allen
reports the environmentalists had set aside their
lawsuit while waiting for EPA to issue new rules
for applying the chemical during a phase-out period:


Azinphos-Methyl or AZM is a highly toxic chemical that
affects the nervous system. Last November, EPA released
stricter rules for applying it and they gave apple and
cherry growers another six years to phase it out.


Environmental groups say that’s much too long, and they’ve
taken up their suit again.


Shelley Davis is with Farmworker Justice. She says EPA was
supposed to weigh the cost to growers against the health
risks to workers and their families.


“The problem here is that EPA didn’t do that. All it did
was total up the financial benefit to the growers. And
that’s what we said to the court is not a fair deal.”


Regulators say growers need more time to learn to use
alternative pesticides.


For the Environment Report, I’m Bob Allen.

Related Links

Phased-Out Pesticide Needed for Orchards?

  • Apple and cherry farmers are concerned phasing out an effective pesticide will affect production and leave more pesticide residue. (Photo by Lester Graham)

The EPA has granted a six-year reprieve for fruit growers to continue to use a highly toxic pesticide. But the decision to eventually phase it out is an uneasy compromise. Environmental health advocates say the delay continues to put farm workers and their families at risk. But growers say they haven’t yet found an effective replacement. Bob Allen reports:

Transcript

The EPA has granted a six-year reprieve for fruit growers to continue to use a
highly toxic pesticide. But the decision to eventually phase it out is an uneasy
compromise. Environmental health advocates say the delay continues to put
farm workers and their families at risk. But growers say they haven’t yet found
an effective replacement. Bob Allen reports:


No one wants Gramma to find a worm when she opens a can of cherries to make
a holiday pie.


According to regulations, inspectors have to make sure cherries coming to market
are worm free. And that puts big pressure on growers when they bring fruit out
of the orchard.


“And you know there’s a zero tolerance for worms. And if they find one worm
they can reject, not just that load, they can reject your whole crop for that
season.”


Francis Otto oversees pesticide spraying for one of the largest cherry orchards
along the west side of Michigan.


For decades those who grow cherries and apples have relied mostly on one
chemical to keep their fruit worm-free. Some call it the hammer. It knocks
down every insect in the orchard for several days. Then it degrades quickly
under sunlight and rain. It’s called azinphos methyl or AZM.


A generation ago workers were directly exposed when they mixed the chemical.
But things have improved since then.


Francis Otto fingers a safer pre-measured packet of AZM.


“It’s called a water soluble packet inside of an overwrap so I can pick this bag up
of azinphos and this plastic bag that it’s actually in dissolves in the water. And so
workers are not exposed to the actual materials.”


That kind of protection is not enough to satisfy groups that sued the EPA on
behalf of farm workers and their families.


Shelly Davis is an attorney with Farmworker Justice. She thinks AZM is just too
toxic to use at all and it ought to be phased-out right away.


“It’s so toxic that if you make the slightest error people are going to get hurt.
>From moderate senses of nausea, vomiting, weakness to convulsions or death.”


There’s no record of anyone dying from AZM. And incidents of serious
poisoning are fairly rare.


But Shelly Davis is mainly worried about effects from low-level exposure to
workers over a long time.


Studies show workers bring pesticides home on their shoes and clothing. It’s in
the dust in their houses where children play.


In Oregon, migrant workers exposed to AZM showed slower reaction times on
tests of how quickly their brains respond than those who don’t work in the
orchards.


“This is a ticking time bomb. Because when children get exposed it gets to the
effect that it can affect their intellectual functioning over time.”


But health researchers are careful to point out there’s no direct link established
between AZM exposure and learning deficits.


As a precaution, they recommend reducing children’s exposure as much as
possible.


EPA is cutting in half the amount of AZM that can be sprayed over the next six
years until it’s phased out. And workers will have to wait 14 days to re-enter a
sprayed orchard instead of 48 hours.


Mark Whalon runs the pesticide alternative lab at Michigan State University.


He’s experimenting with less toxic materials. He says they have to be sprayed
more often and much closer to harvest than AZM to be effective.


Whalon also has spent 25 years developing ways for growers to keep insects in
check other than using chemicals.


“And now we’re going to have to start over again with these new reduced
compounds because they have a whole different set of impacts that we’ve got to
learn all over again.”


Whalon says EPA doesn’t have good data on what the long-term health effects
might be from exposure to the alternative pesticides.


But Shelly Davis with Farmworker Justice says she’d prefer the unknown effects
from much less toxic materials than the sure danger of AZM.


Either way, Francis Otto at Cherry Bay Orchards says something’s got to give.
The alternative pesticides he’s tried are way more expensive but not as effective
as AZM.


Yet he’s still expected to deliver apples and cherries to the buying public free of
insect damage for the same price.


For the Environment Report, I’m Bob Allen.

Related Links

Clear-Cut Demonstration Angers Forest’s Neighbors

  • Stands of pine like this have been clear-cut to demonstrate an option that forest owners can take to manage their property. (Photo by Keran McKenzie)

Most forests in the Great Lakes region are privately owned. That concerns the U.S. Forest Service because the agency says many forest owners don’t know how to properly manage their woodlands. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports that a new education project that demonstrates tree-harvesting techniques has angered some residents:

Transcript

Most forests in the Great Lakes region are privately owned. That concerns the U.S.
Forest Service because the agency says many forest owners don’t know how to properly
manage their woodlands. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports that a
new education project that demonstrates tree-harvesting techniques has angered some residents:


(sound of chain saws)


Workers are cutting down trees in a fifty-year-old pine crop. At the same time, state
foresters are leading a botanist, a private tree farmer, and a reporter through this forest
education site. One of the foresters, Rick Miller, is directing the chain saws to show what
needs to be cut for what’s called a “crop tree release.”


“This one here we selected out with the orange flags, the trees that show the best form and
dominance in the crown. They have a nice big healthy crown. And then what we’re doing is removing
any trees that are touching the crowns of those ones that are orange, and just opening it up
to give the crown more room up there to spread out and possibly increase their growth and their
vigor.”


A forest owner who wants to make money off his pine stand might do a crop tree release to
improve the quality of the remaining timber. The bigger the tree, the more money it’s worth
to a logging company.


Heading deeper in, a crop of pine trees lined up like soldiers trails to our right, and wilder
hardwoods shade us from the left. There are signs to demarcate different timbering techniques:
improvement cut, understory removal, selective cut. Project manager Frank Corona stops at one
section of oaks, maples and cherries.


“You have small trees, medium trees, some larger trees. Trees are probably selectively
harvested in here and you have all different ages of trees in this stand…”


The cool shaded path abruptly opens up. The lush canopy is replaced by harsh sunlight.


GRANT: “Oh wow, so this is the clear-cut…”


CORONA: “This is the clear-cut.”


The forest is gone… cut to the ground. All that remains are the 120 hardwood stumps on
the torn-up dirt. Botanist Steve McKee suports construction of the demonstration site.
But he also loves trees.


GRANT: “What do you think when you see that clear-cut?”


MCKEE: “Well, clear-cuts are never pretty, ya know? So, uh, I think the most shocking thing
for me is I’ve walked in this my whole life and it was surprising. But I knew it
was coming too, so…”


But some people in the community say they didn’t know the demonstration project would include
clear-cutting older trees. Anne McCormack hikes the Mohican nearly every day, clearing trails,
cleaning garbage, or enjoying the woods. The education site has been roped off from the public
during construction. But she found out there was a clear-cut demonstration in an old growth
section of the forest.


“So, I just was… I was just shocked. I mean I can’t say anything more. I just felt
terrible for… I felt terrible for the trees that stood there since before white settlers
were even in Mohican. And there they just were bulldozed and chain cut for education.
I mean, it doesn’t add up.”


McCormack’s not the only one who’s upset. A lot of people didn’t realize this is what
the Forest Service had in mind. Back at the clear-cut site, Corona says many trees suffer
from disease when they mature to 120 years. He says it’s a good age for private land owners
to consider the clear-cut option.


“This was a time where before they would rot out or anything and we see more damage, more
susceptibility health-wise in the entire stand, we could make a harvest in here and utilize
those trees and start this whole new cycle of growth in here.”


The foresters and forest owners say clear-cutting is a viable option, and just one of the
many examples at the demonstration project in the Mohican forest.


Tree farmer Scott Galloway says people need to understand that owning a forest is another
form of family farming. For instance, he got a call recently from a man who inherited 30
acres and needed money right away. He doesn’t know how to manage his tree crop.


“Where does he go? How do you make the right decisions quickly? The faster he can make
decisions, in his lifetime with his forest, the sooner he’ll be able to enjoy the benefits
of those decisions. It’s all about forestry, wildlife, natural resources. So the more education he
can get, the better those decisions will be and the better off all of us are environmentally because of it.”


The Forest Service says a demonstration project is needed because forest acreage is getting
cut up into smaller and smaller parcels. That means the forests are owned by more and more
people who need to know how to manage their timber. The Forest Service hopes this project
will help them make better decisions.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Julie Grant.

Related Links

Mite Zapper Might Help Bees

Beekeepers in the Midwest and elsewhere are turning to innovative ways to protect their hives from tiny, blood-sucking mites. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports, farmers depend on the health of commercial honeybee colonies:

Transcript

Beekeepers in the Midwest and elsewhere are turning to innovative ways to protect their hives
from tiny, blood-sucking mites. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports,
farmers depend on the health of commercial honeybee colonies:


Apples, cherries, and cucumbers are among the crops that depend on bees for pollination. But in
the mid-80’s, a parasite called varroa wiped out wild honeybees in the U.S. And the mites have
also taken a toll on commercial colonies as well.


The problem is especially serious in California. Almond growers there have had difficulties in
the last few years getting enough bees to pollinate their half-million acres of almond trees. But
Zachary Huang, a honeybee researcher at Michigan State University, says beekeepers in the
region still have about twice the number of bees needed to meet farmers’ demands.


“It’s not so bad yet that we’re having trouble getting bees to pollinate our fruit trees.”


Chemicals have been developed to kill the mites. But so far, they’ve proved only partly effective,
or the mites become resistant. Huang has patented a device called the “mite zapper” that kills the
parasites in the hives. He hopes to be able to market it to beekeepers next year.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Sarah Hulett.

Related Links

Struggling Farmers Turn to Logging

In some states in the Great Lakes region, it’s been a bad year for fruit trees. Some orchard owners are facing a devastating year. They’re trying to find some other source to bring in some money. One way farmers are choosing might hurt the environment and future income for the farmers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

In some states in the Great Lakes region, it’s been a bad year for fruit
trees. Some orchard owners are facing a devastating year. They’re
trying to find some other source to bring in some money. One way
farmers are choosing might hurt the environment and future income
for the farmers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports:


Tart cherries are legendary in northwestern Michigan. There are cherry
festivals, cherry streets, and even some of the businesses are named in
honor of the surrounding cherry orchards.


But this year, the tart cherry crop was nearly wiped out.


(sounds of coffee shop)


On a recent Sunday morning at Barb’s Bakery in Northport, Michigan
the locals and the tourists gather for coffee and pastry. Paul Scott is
having a cup of coffee and looking through the newspaper. He’s a cherry
farmer who lives on the peninsula between Lake Michigan and Grand
Traverse Bay. He explains what happened this year to the cherry
trees…


“In early April, we had four or five days of exceptionally warm
weather. It got into the mid-80s and it pushed the vegetative growth of
the trees way past of where they should have been for that time of the
year. Subsequently, we had two devastating freezes, back-to-back, two
nights in a row.”


Compared to last year’s bumper crop, the tart cherry trees will only
produce about three-percent of the crop. Sweet cherry trees will do a
little better… with about 15 to 25-percent of the crop surviving. Scott
says farmers who still have to make their farm payments and survive
are looking for other ways to bring in some cash…

“And,
the first thing that — in a year like this — what your people do
is go look for an opportunity to sell timber if they really are jammed
and they have to have something, that’s what they’ll do.”


(truck sounds)


That’s exactly what Jim Von Holt thought about doing. Von Holt is a
fourth generation cherry farmer. As we drive on the bumpy dirt road
through his orchard, it’s hard to find a single cherry on the trees. We’re
headed to a 20-acre stand of timber, a small hardwood forest at the
back of his property…


“Maple’s predominant. Ash would be second. There’s
some cherry, beech, and a little poplin here. The maple’s what’s worth
the most.”


Von Holt says the trees here are high quality hardwoods. That could
mean some pretty good money…


“This year with absolutely, essentially no crop to sell, if
you wanted to bring the money in, this would be a good year to bring the
money in. So, yeah, it’s a money issue. I’ve always kind of looked at this
up here on this particular farm as this is just a little bit of an ace in the
hole. If times get tough — and times are tough — or get as bad as they are
this year, this was something we could come into and say ‘Now is the
time to go ahead and do this.'”


Von Holt hired a forester to help him determine which trees should be
cut now and which ones should be left standing to continue growing for
a future harvest and future income. The longer they grow, the more
valuable the trees can become.


Not everyone turns to a forester to help. The cherry farmers sometimes
just let the timber-buyer decide.


Rick Moore is the forester for the Grand Traverse and Leelanau
Conservation District. He says he encourages landowners to at least get
bids from more than one timber-buyer before agreeing to allow logging.


“Right now there are timber buyers who aware of the plight of
the cherry farmer. And there are people up here who are not so
reputable who are knocking on doors.”


And Moore says some of those loggers will take every tree that can be
harvested… especially the good maples… even if those trees should be
left standing for future harvests years down the road.


On top of that… timber-buyers are giving farmers much less for their
hardwood timber right now. Some hardwood prices have dropped to
nearly half of what they were just a few months ago. Timber buyers who
are cutting and buying trees now and then hold them until prices
rebound, could make a lot of money and leave the farmers with a lot
less income.


Jim Von Holt says that’s why he’s not cutting right now. By using a
forester to help ensure his timber stand will be around for future
selective cuts… he’s thinking about long-term income and the health of
the forest…


“So it has to be handled right. And, I’ve just watched too
many people, too many landowners in the area really take a bath on
letting just a logger come in and say ‘Hey, you know you need to cut this
place. All the 18-inch lumber needs to come out of here.’ And that’s
wrong. That’s just wrong.”


But, some of his neighbors are more worried about getting some quick
cash in a year when the tart cherry crop won’t bring in any money.
Some cherry farmers feel they just don’t have a choice.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

EPA Re-Examines Effects of Pesticides on Children

For the past few years, environmentalists have been warning consumers that pesticides applied to fruits and vegetables could be extremely dangerous to children. Soon, the Environmental Protection Agency will tackle the issue. Armed with a new federal law, the EPA is taking a fresh look to see if pesticides applied to produce carry health hazards. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Edelson Halpert has more: