Erratic Weather Pounded MI Cherry Crop; 75% Of Sweet Cherries Lost; Overall Farm Income Slumping [View all]

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Everyone who works the land knows they’re at the mercy of the weather, but even by that measure this was a challenging year for Michigan’s cherry farmers. Growers throughout the state, which produces one-fifth of the nation’s sweet cherries and about 75 percent of its tart cherries, have struggled with mounting losses. By the time the season came to a close over the summer, as much as 75 percent of the state’s sweet cherry crop was lost. Although tart cherry production for northwest Michigan was up almost 40 percent over last year, the quality of the fruit declined.

Many growers are adapting to the difficult market and changing climate, planting different varieties or embracing high-density orchards with trees packed more closely together, an approach that makes them easier to harvest while lowering costs and improving quality. For Isaiah Wunsch, CEO of the farm that bears his name, the key to survival is “not putting all of our eggs into one basket.”

That approach isn’t a perfect solution for some of the financial issues that have pushed some to the cusp of bankruptcy, and state officials and the federal government have intervened. Earlier this fall, the Department of Agriculture approved Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s request for emergency assistance to cover crop losses through a federal disaster declaration. But while such federal assistance can be helpful in the short term, Gomez said, “none of us really want to get to the point where it’s considered a disaster, and now we are.”

Similar struggles are playing out on farms nationwide, with some regions, like the Midwest, facing the onset of an agricultural recession, said Ernie Goss, an economist at Creighton University. The downturn largely stems from extreme weather, rising labor and production costs, imbalances in global supply and demand, and declines in what growers earn and what they receive in disaster relief. This year has seen many farmers selling an array of commodities, including wheat, soybeans, and corn, at below break-even prices. Their finances have been further strained by increased price volatility. The latest federal forecast predicts farm income will decrease 4 percent over last year in what some deem the sector’s worst financial year since 2007.

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https://grist.org/article/climate-takes-its-toll-on-the-cherry-capital-of-the-world/