The Fruit Growers News - October 2000


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Final Tart Cherry Crop to be Half Restricted, Half for Free Market
By Lee Dean Managing Editor
The Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB) has recommended that half the nation’s tart cherry crop for 2000 be kept out of the free market. The 50-50 split represents the highest percentage of restricted tonnage since the order began in 1997. After receiving the official USDA estimate of the crop in June, the CIAB met and set a preliminary figure of 53% free and 47% restricted. The final 50-50 adjustment was made Sept. 8. “This is not being driven by the size of the crop, although we did pick unexpectedly long. This was driven by the size of the carry-in this season,” said Perry Hedin, CIAB’s executive director. “That carry-in was 87 million pounds. The sales we had projected for last season didn’t materialize.” In June, the USDA estimated a crop of 245 million pounds, but the final yield was 284 million pounds, or 116% of the estimate. Every growing region came in over its projection except Oregon and Pennsylvania. The quality of the crop was excellent in the vast majority of regions, which tempted growers to pack the fruit, rather than divert it, said Hedin. Even though Northwest Michigan as a region produced 108 million pounds of cherries, 18 million more than the estimate, some growers came in at 70-85% of last year’s yields. The result for these growers is a double bind. “Some of us had crops substantially smaller than last year and we’re setting aside 38% of them,” said Suttons Bay, Mich. grower and CIAB board President Don Gregory. “That doesn’t make for much cash flow.” The final crop split could have been even more restricted if not for higher than normal purchases of cherries by the federal government. A year ago, the government purchased two million pounds. The average government purchase has been 17 million pounds. This season, 30 million pounds have already been purchased, including 4.7 million in mid-September for the Family Feeding Program. At its September meeting, CIAB decided to automatically release from its reserves an amount of cherries equal to any USDA purchase. This move takes the fluctuations of government purchases out of the formula the board uses to calculate free and restricted tonnage. “That makes the cherries automatically available for market with which we can satisfy USDA sales,” said Hedin. The 13-million-pound difference between the average federal purchase and this year’s buys was factored into the final crop adjustment. An additional adjustment of 35 million pounds was taken for export activity. Without these adjustments, the final percentages would have been 56% restricted and 44% free. An additional step will be adjustment for the market growth factor. Under this provision, CIAB is required to oversupply the market by 10% of its normal sales. This season, this factor will cause the release of 28 million additional pounds to the market. Thus, the restricted tonnage would be at 38% and the remainder would be free market tonnage. The in-orchard diversion this year was approximately five million pounds. Of that total, a little more than four million pounds occurred in Utah. Gregory believes the automatic release of reserves corresponding to USDA purchases will help the overall picture. So will the entry of Washington and New York next year into the ranks of regulated states. Despite all the challenges, Gregory said as a grower he is better off with the order than without it.