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07/14/2007Sweet season turns tartGrowers expect another good harvestSUTTONS BAY — The region's tart cherry harvest is ramping up, just as the National Cherry Festival winds down. Tart cherry harvest shifted into high gear in recent days and should continue for two to three weeks, as area fruit processors are reporting a solid harvest boasting high-quality fruit. "The first I've seen I've been real happy with,” said Al Steimel, general manager of Leelanau Fruit Co. along M-22 south of Suttons Bay. The tart harvest comes on the heels of an earlier-than-normal sweet cherry crop in which yields were also high, with the quality described by Steimel as "excellent.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month projected a national tart cherry harvest of around 294 million pounds, up more than 11 percent from last year. Northwest Michigan cherry growers were expected to produce 160 million pounds of the statewide harvest of around 230 million pounds, but may not quite reach that level, according to local agriculture officials. "I think the bumper crop is a little less than we expected, but there's still a lot of cherries out there,” said Nikki Rothwell, who heads the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station in Leelanau County's Bingham Township. "The season is moving along really fast.” Some parts of the region received more than an inch of rain in recent days, an occurrence that can complicate the cherry harvest. But it hasn't hurt the fruit quality so far. "That probably shouldn't affect it too much,” Steimel said. "It's been so dry, the trees and the fruit can probably use a little more rain.” Still, growers and processors will keep an eye on the sky in the coming days, as heavy rains or wind could crack or bruise fruit before farmers have a chance to get it off the trees. Steimel suspects strong winds associated with recent weather fronts may have taken at least a minor toll on the tart crop. "I'm sure we're going to see some damage to the tart cherries because of the wind,” he said. The area's tart cherry harvest should be completed by the first week of August.
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