Although recent weather conditions have been less than kind to horticultural producers in many parts of the country—having to endure rain, hail, wind, floods, lack of sunlight hours and more—there remains hope for many cherry growers for the mid to late season fruit.
There have been many high profile cherry growers in all producing states putting a positive message to the media about the good quality cherries yet to come. Below is an excerpt from The Australian.
“Fears of a widespread shortage of cherries over Christmas have proven unfounded as a bumper crop of the red stone fruit has started to arrive in stores and farmers expect the season to run well into the new year.
Consecutive La Nina weather events wreaked havoc on crops in major growing regions as heavy rains were thought to have increased the likelihood of cherries splitting, sparking fears of a shortage of the festive fruit.
Harris Farm co-chief executive Tristan Harris said the poor weather had delayed the cherry season, especially for early growers, but added the looming abundance could even lower prices around Christmas time.
“We are on track for a very good season,” he said. “We’re really excited by what it’s going to look like at Christmas time.”
Lynton Orchard co-owner Rayan Khodr said bad weather had delayed the planting season at her orchards near Young in NSW, leaving her worried and stressed over the viability of the season.
“The season was a bit rough when it first started because when the first variety came out we had a bit of damage due to the weather,” she said.
“The season was actually delayed by about three weeks but at the moment the cherries are amazing.”
Back Creek Orchard owner Stuart Walton said the quality of cherries was high despite the slow start to the season, although he warned the volume of fruit might be lower than last year.
“We’ll have more volumes of the fruit coming into the market in the next week or so providing the weather continues to be good to us,” he said.
Mr Walton said recent mild weather and colder nights were behind the good quality of the fruit and his orchard had successfully produced enough cherries to meet demand.
A Woolworths spokesperson said the availability of cherries and other stone fruit was beginning to ramp up after floods in NSW and Victoria delayed the start of the season.”
Demand for cherries is being met
The usual high demand for cherries before and after the Christmas period is solid as good quality cherries now grace the shelves of the fruit shops and supermarkets.
With some regions being three to four weeks behind normal marketing periods for some cultivars, (that period could shorten as warmer weather returns), forecasts are that domestic and export demands, although perhaps slightly below average in volumes, will continue to be met.
At the moment, the extra light from the full moon, should skies remain fairly clear, will help with the advancement of ripening of cherries.
The Lunar New Year holiday period is the last week in January next year—which is not far away. It is likely that the late producing areas will be able to supply that time slot.
Next issue
In the January 2023 issue of Tree Fruit we will look at next season’s cherry buds which are forming now, and at the extra shoot growth that has resulted from all the rain.
See this article in Tree Fruit Dec 2022
