Problems that have plagued Leelanau County cherry growers for years appear to have taken a toll on European farm operations, which could be a good thing for local farmers.
Spring frosts — a fear of growers everywhere — took out cherry buds in Poland, reducing the overall tart cherry harvest in one of American orchardists’ competitors.
“I think the silver lining of this year for marketing has been that the crop in Europe was short,” said Mark Miezio, president of Cherry Bay Orchards based in Suttons Bay Township. “I’ve heard of other processors that have been able to export, and to export at relatively strong pricing. That was something we didn’t see previously. So this year, at least, we seem to be benefitting from short crops elsewhere.”
Of course, the lingering question is whether export demand will trickle down to provide higher prices paid to growers. The cherry industry has changed over the decades to include “vertically integrated” operations — larger companies that may still be family owned, but have grown to include not only orchards but also processing and even marketing operations.
Cherry Bay Orchards and Shoreline Fruit are closely aligned, with the processing side buying 70 to 80% of its cherries from its business partner.
“We’ve seen a lot of other processors that are now grower owned or changed hands and are owned by other entities. So everyone’s approach is different. Will (higher demand through exports) flow back to growers? In growerowned organizations, our hope would be yes,” Miezio said.
But that might take some time. Theoretically, higher demand spurred by exports should raise pricing. That’s if stored fruit supplies — usually frozen or as juice — are reduced heading into the 2025 harvest.. Shoreline has sold only juice through exports, Miezio said.
Curtis Rawley, a cherry grower and processor from Utah, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that exports will have a meaningful impact on the cherry industry.. He’s president of the Cherry Industry Administrative Board.
“It hasn’t been as big as we thought it might be, but we’re only halfway through the sales year. We could see something take off during the later half of the sales year,” he said..
During COVID years, he recalls, export sales of tart cherries that had hovered close to 10 million pounds dried up, and never fully recovered.
“Anything sold into the export market would be great. If we can get 10 to 15 million pounds into the export market, that would be great,” he said. Rowley does not include exports to Canada because most of those cherries are processed, then sold back into the domestic market.
U.S. growers harvested 261.7 million pounds of tart cherries in. 2024, a CIAB report stated. Northwest Michigan alone produced more than 100 million pounds, with Leelanau topping other counties in cherry production within that jurisdiction.
According to the Cherry Times, a global newsletter published in Italy, “Frost caused significant damage to both flower buds and already set fruit (in Poland), In some areas, hailstorms in the second half of May also caused damage to the trees’ structure.”
The plight of the cherry industry was covered in another Cherry Times’ story about Turkey, where record production in 2023 was followed by the thirdheaviest crop ever in 2024.
“Despite the decline in production, cherry exports are projected to reach an all-time high as growers prioritize the more profitable foreign markets over the local ones,” the publication stated.
Labor costs have grown burdensome in Turkey, the story continued, although United States growers who are required to pay $18.50 per hour to migrant workers may question that description. Turkish farmers complained that labor costs had risen to $29.71 per day, The Cherry Times wrote. “Some growers report that producing one kilogram of sweet cherries costs 57 TL (Turkish Lira), but they can only sell it at a loss of 50 TL/kg. Due to those losses, some small growers are considering switching to more profitable crops.”
