Climate change, pests and disease continue to threaten Michigan cherry crops

Michigan cherry farmers were looking forward to a fruitful harvest this year, yet severe weather and pest infestations continue to burden the industry.

Cherries are one of the most vital crops in the state. Michigan produces 75% of the nation’s tart cherries that are used for processed goods like pie filling, juice and dried fruit. Michigan’s sweet cherries — the kind you find fresh in the produce aisle — accounts for about 20% of the country’s supply.

Michigan’s sweet cherry harvest was hit particularly hard this year. By the end of the growing season, the state’s sweet cherry farmers lost upwards of 75% of their crops, according to the Michigan Department of Agricultural and Rural Development.

Nate Chester is the marketing director for the national Cherry Marketing Institute, a Dewitt-based research organization representing cherry growers throughout the U.S. and Michigan. He told the Michigan Independent that cherry growers had a great crop heading into harvest season, so they didn’t predict the challenges they faced this year.

“Probably around the middle of June, it started raining in Michigan and didn’t stop,” Chester said. “So we had a very, very wet harvest.”

The problems didn’t stop there. The rainy weather brought invasive pests and disease that damaged the cherry crops, and pesticides to prevent these issues were getting washed away with the continuous rainfall, “so the cherries kind of got hit pretty hard this year from a couple of fronts,” Chester said.

“The production numbers are actually pretty good,” Chester said. “However, the quality really, really, really suffered.”

Michigan is forecasted to contribute only about 6% of the nation’s sweet cherry harvest this year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In a sign of positive growth, Michigan’s tart cherry production is expected to rebound in 2024, up 37% from the state’s 2023 harvest. The state is expected to make up almost 82% of the nation’s expected tart cherry production this year.

Michigan cherries are primarily grown in the northwestern Lower Peninsula. Traverse City is known as the “Cherry Capital of the World” because of its large annual cherry production and the National Cherry Festival, which it hosts each year.

With hundreds of cherry growers, the industry is critical to Michigan’s economy and rural communities throughout the state, said Ben Smith, executive director of the Michigan State Horticultural Society. If cherry farms are unable to stay open due to bad harvests, those negative effects can trickle down to other companies that rely on those growers for business.

“It’s this difficult cycle, and that’s why it’s so important to keep our farms healthy, keeps our whole economy healthy,” Smith said.

In August, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested a disaster declaration from the USDA to make emergency resources available for northern Michigan’s cherry producers. In October, the USDA issued natural disaster declarations for Antrim, Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties, as well as eight additional surrounding counties.

To grant the emergency request, the federal agency verified that at least over 30% of Michigan crops were lost. Eligible sweet cherry producers located in the designated counties will receive access to the USDA’s emergency low-interest loan program until June 2025.

“From farmers to producers to retailers, so many in our community rely on the success of crops like cherries,” state Rep. Betsy Coffia, a Traverse City Democrat, said in a statement. “I am glad to see the USDA make this decision to bring some relief for the devastating sweet cherry crop loss and I will continue to seek ways to do more to support our farmers weathering this latest challenge to their livelihoods.”

The USDA declaration is just one piece of the puzzle to get farmers through the year, as those who take advantage of the loan program will still be responsible for paying back the money owed, Chester said. Although growers were hopeful this year, he added, there’s no quick fix to bring back the losses they experienced but they’ll find ways to adapt.

“This is farming, so this is the way it goes,” Chester said. “You can work all year, really hard on your crop, do everything right. Then Mother Nature throws a curve ball at you in June and kind of washes away literally all that hard work. It’s a very volatile environment to work.”