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CHERRY FARMERS WORRIED ABOUT WARM WEATHER
WPR News - Cherry farmers worried about warm weather
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Friday April 13, 2012
by Steve Roisum
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(UNDATED) The unseasonably warm weather is causing cherries to bud early this year, this has growers worried.
At least one grower says many of his flower buds that eventually turn into cherries are already dead. Terry Sorenson is the president of the Wisconsin Cherry Growers. He says recent freezing temperatures are putting the cherry crop in a vulnerable state, "At this point and time we are extremely nervous, we're hoping we have a decent enough crop to satisfy the local demand, and maybe more. I'm expecting that it's going to be a pretty catastrophic situation for some orchard growers."
Other growers are also reporting losses. UW-Madison assistant professor in horticulture Rebecca Harbut says some orchards have already lost 90% of their crop. She says this will be the third year in a row the Wisconsin cherry industry has seen a small crop, "It can certainly put a significant stress on a lot of our growers, especially on the heels of a poor season in 2010, 2011 was okay, two poor years put together will put a strain, especially on smaller growers."
Harbut says a good year yields 10-11 million pounds of cherries. Last year, she says producers grew less than half that.
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