If you're feeling like you've seen fewer Michigan cherries on grocery store shelves this summer, you aren't alone. A number of environmental pressures led to crop losses of 30 to 75% for cherry farmers in northwest Michigan. In response, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture declare a federal disaster for the region, which would trigger financial aid funding for farmers.
The problem was not that there was rain, but rather when the rain showed up this year, according to Isaiah Wunsch, CEO of Wunsch Farms near Traverse City. When rain shows up during the harvest season, it can cause the fruit to burst and rot more quickly. The humid and hot environment also increased pest pressure from invasive fruit flies and fungal disease.
Wunsch said that his farm has been working to deal with increasingly unpredictable weather patterns by planting more climate-resilient cherry varieties that put out blooms later in the year. But, he added, not every farmer is doing the same. He said he knows many farmers who are approaching retirement and may decide to stop planting sweet cherries altogether. The likely result, he said, is that the "land will just go out of farming."
Listen to our full interview with Isaiah Wunsch above or subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen.
GUESTS ON THIS EPISODE
- Isaiah Wunsch, CEO of Wunsch Farms and agribusiness consultant for Third Coast Fruit Co.
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