Due to the increasing challenges in the recent years a great number of cherry producers in Michigan are clearing out all their cherry orchards. This came after difficult weather conditions and concerns about foreign competition, that made profits almost unfeasible in recent years
According to USDA's Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts summary, released in May, since 2015 Michigan cherry orchards' acreage has been receding at a fast pace, with a decline from 28,400 acres to 23,000 recorded last year.
Based on Northwest Michigan's avarage 7,733-pound yield, the cost related to cherries production avarages around 40 cents per pound, According to the Michigan Tart Cherry Cost of Production Study for 2022.
Some producers believe to have earne little over around 22 cents for a pound of cherries during last season, further emphasizing how the cherry business model could be turning into a not sustainable one in the future.
Juliette King-McAvoy, vice president of sales and marketing for King Orchards, a retail operation based in Antrim County, said that "when we see so many farmers either selling their land or taking their trees out to plant something else, it's alarming to us. Is this industry going to be able to survive? There's been a lot of consolidation in the processing end of the industry, so there aren't very many options for farmers to go to sell their cherries.”
Read the full article: The Detroit News
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