Tag: cherry

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

Rekindling Corn Stoves

Fuel prices are higher this winter… but corn prices are down. That’s kindling a demand for corn stoves in some parts of the country. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Shamane Mills reports:

Transcript

Fuel prices are higher this winter, but corn prices are down. That’s kindling a demand for corn
stoves in some parts of the country. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Shamane Mills reports:


I always thought corn was something you ate. But I’m watching as my brother-in-law is stoking
his stove with golden kernels…


“In my case I use five gallon pails of corn, then just pour in slowly…”


(sound of kernels spilling into hopper)


I’d never seen a corn stove and my brother-in-law, Steve Springer, says he never thought he’d use
one. Once he did, he was hooked.


“Well, one thing about it is, it’s a renewable resource. Being a farmer myself, it’s something we
grow ourselves. This was in our home when we purchased the home – never had any exposure to
it. Since then, I like it immensely. Kicks out lot of heat.”


Corn stoves first became popular in the 1970’s when corn prices plummeted. There were
problems with the early stoves. Hardened clumps of burned corn, called clinkers, had to be
cleaned up and the corn didn’t burn efficiently.


Today, the stoves are making a resurgence because corn prices are down. New corn stoves are
better than the ones back in the 70’s. The stoves now have an agitator to stir the corn for a more
even burn and fewer clinkers.


Ed Bossert sells corn stoves at a store near where the Springers live. He says business is brisk.


“A lot of people come in to save money, a lot of people come in because it’s a renewable
resource, a lot of people come in because the pollution factor is basically nothing.”


Corn stoves produce less carbon dioxide and soot than burning wood or coal, so they seem more
environmentally friendly. But critics point out that the farm machinery used to grow the corn
burns fuel and generates pollution, so any gain from a cleaner burning fuel may be lost during
planting and harvesting.


While the environmental argument simmers, sales of corn stoves continue to heat up. Bossert says
he now sells as many corn stoves as he does wood stoves.


In larger cities such as Madison, Wisconsin the corn stoves don’t sell as well. At Top
Hat Fireplace & Chimney, only three customers have purchased corn stoves despite the best
efforts of sales staff like Mark Gilligan. Showing off the store’s one and only corn stove model,
he says it’s easy to maintain….


“They actually locate down below an ash drawer. That actually sits down below. There isn’t a
whole lot of ash from these pellet and corn stoves because it uses most of it up.”


Most corn stove dealers say a bushel or two a day will keep the cold away. With corn about two
dollars a bushel, that can seem like a bargain compared to natural gas prices, which are 20%
higher this year. But the initial cost of residential corn stoves can be steep.


Craig Tawlowicz owns Countryside Heating in north-central Wisconsin. He says new corn
stoves can cost two thousand… on up to six thousand dollars.


“So this is a long term investment. Most of the time, turn around savings, usually five to six
years pays off your investment.”


Wood stoves are not only more traditional, but they’re generally cheaper. So, wood stoves are
more popular. At Hearth and Home Fireplaces, Claire Barton says despite that… more customers
are considering corn stoves.


“It certainly makes sense for someone who has grain available to them and many of them will
burn corn as well as oats, wheat, barley, cherry pits. Things like that.”


The National Corn Growers Association promotes a lot of corn products. You’d think corn stoves
might be one of them – but spokeswoman Mimi Ricketts says it’s not one of the 600 items the
group touts.


“The National Corn Growers Association determines its issues based on priorities of member
states. Corn stoves is not one that’s been put on our radar screen. We are aware of them but we
have not actively promoted corn stoves.”


That’s probably because compared to other buyers of corn, such as livestock farms, corn syrup
processors and ethanol makers, corn stoves just don’t use a lot of corn. It’s not considered a big
market for farmers.


Instead, the big sales are going to those who make or sell the corn stoves. And because farmers’
harvest was so large this fall, corn stove retailers have found their cash crop this winter.


For the GLRC, I’m Shamane Mills.

Related Links

Part 2: Selling the Right to Develop Farmland

  • Farm museums like this one are sometimes the only remnant of the agricultural life that has been overrun by development. However, some communities are buying farmers' development rights in an effort to save the rural landscape. (Photo by Lester Graham)

One way to keep farms from becoming subdivisions is to pay the farmers to never build on their land. This has been happening on the east and west coasts for decades. But it’s just now beginning to catch on in the Great Lakes region. In the second of a two part series on farmers and the decisions they make about their land, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Peter Payette takes us to a place where local government is paying to keep land in agriculture:

Transcript

One way to keep farms from becoming subdivisions is to pay the farmers to never
build on their land. This has been happening on the east and west coasts for
decades. But it’s just now beginning to catch on in the Great Lakes region. In
the second of a two part series on farmers and the decisions they make about
their land, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Peter Payette takes us to a place
where local government is paying to keep land in agriculture:


Whitney Lyon’s farm has been in his family for more than a century. He has 100
acres of cherry and apple trees. The orchards are on a peninsula that stretches
fourteen miles across a bay in Northern Lake Michigan. His farm is about a half
mile from the clear blue water that attracts thousands of tourists here every
year.


Lyon says real estate agents love his property.


“We run clean back to the bay on the north side… that’s view property. It’s
worth 30, 40,000 bucks an acre.”


But it’s not worth that much anymore. The rights to build houses on the Lyon farm have
been sold. The way this works is this: the Lyon’s keep the land, but they get paid
for the real estate value they give up to keep the land as a farm instead of house
sites.


(sound of apple picking)


There’s a thick fog across the peninsula today. Whitney Lyon is picking apples. His
wife Mary is inside watching kids. Mary says the day they sold the development
rights was the best day in their thirty years of farm life. She says she knew they’d
be able to stay on the land. And because of the money they made, she downsized her
daycare business.


“The big change, especially the last two or three years, I no longer just buy stuff
from just garage sales. I have actually been spending money on purchasing things for
the house. Which previously, everything came from garage sales.”


Many of the Lyon’s neighbors have sold their development rights as well. For ten
years, the township government has raised money to buy those rights with an additional
property tax. Almost no other community in the Midwest has a program like this. But,
if approved by voters, five more townships in this area might also start programs after
the November elections. Each township is separately asking voters to approve a property tax.


The American Farmland Trust has helped the townships design the program. The group is
excited because this would provide an example of local governments joining together to
protect farmland. Farmland Trust’s President Ralph Grossie flew in for a campaign event.
In a speech, Grossie told a crowd of about 100 people there’s a disconnect between farmers
and their communities. He says the community benefits from the farms while the farmers
struggle to make ends meet.


“We believe there is a middle ground here, there is a way to strike a deal between those
who manage our landscape – private farmers and ranchers, landowners – and those who
appreciate and benefit from that well-managed landscape. If you think about it, that’s
the heart of the property rights debate. Almost all those conflicts over property rights
are really about who pays for achieving a public goal on private land.”


Grossie says paying farmers with public money is the best option if a community wants to
keep farms. Otherwise, he says government forces farmers to pay when they give up profitable
uses of their land because of zoning laws. But a few in this crowd weren’t buying.


Some are opposed to more taxes on their homes or businesses so the township government can
write big checks to farmers. Others question if younger generations even want to farm.


(sound of noise from crowd)


And some are just plain suspicious of government. Roger Booth is talking to another
opponent of the propposal after the speech. Booth is explaining that when the right
to develop a piece of land is purchased, it’s gone forever. But he points out there
is one exception.


“Eminent domain. And who’s going to decide eminent domain has the right to take it? The
people in power of government at the time. Not today. Thirty years from now.”


Government also has an image problem because prominent local farmers often sit on the
town boards. It’s hard not to notice they could be the ones cashing in on the public treasury.
Critics also point out these programs tax farms to save farmland. And they say buying the
deveolopment rights does nothing to improve the business of farming. Supporters admit this
doesn’t guarantee future success for farms. But they say at least it gives the farmers a
chance to keep farming instead of selling to developers.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Peter Payette.

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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.