Local growers suffer poor cherry season

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- If you've been out shopping you may have noticed there haven't been many locally grown cherries to be found. All over the Valley, trees normally loaded with cherries produced very little if any fruit this year. Cherry season left a sour taste in the mouths of many growers.

David Vart of Zediker Produce said, "We don't like to use the word often but it really was a crop failure."

Vart grows 50 acres of cherries in the Kingsburg area. He said several factors led to a 90 percent reduction in his cherry crop this season. "We did have a lot of rain during the beginning of bloom but in addition to that, the chill hours were very, very critical. We had cold temperatures in December. We had very warm temperatures in the afternoons."

Fruit and nut trees need very cold temperatures to go dormant during the winter.

Fresno County Ag Commissioner Les Wright said the lack of those familiar cold, foggy days this winter also impacted the cherry crop.

Wright explained, "This is the second year in a row it hasn't been a very good year for them. We really lacked the fog this winter. We had the freezing temperatures but we didn't have the fog to hold that cold so the trees suffered a lack of chill hours."

Vart added, "Mother Nature really did throw us a curve ball."

The local crop took a hit but Valley shoppers will notice as cherries from Washington hit the market prices will start to fall.

Vart's nectarine crop fared much better than his cherries. Production dipped a bit because of the warmer winter but his unique looking, white saucer nectarines were ready to be shipped overseas.