Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/331109
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER JULY 2014 17 Archibeque says the crop was light throughout the state. Rivermaid Trading, a major cherry and pear grower and packer, normally handles about 800,000 boxes of cherries. This year, he expected about a third of a crop. Few untouched "There's no region that wasn't impacted," said Archibeque, adding that location and elevation seemed to influence the severity of poor fruit set. "Many times in California cherries, one region will have rain or hail, but there always seems to be a bright spot somewhere. You just can't find it this year." He noted that fruit set seemed to be rootstock dependent. Trees on Mahaleb rootstock appeared to have better fruit set than trees on Colt or Mazzard. "Those with heavy Mahaleb in their mix are in a much better position," he said. "And while all varieties performed poorly, Chelan and Garnett seem to have very light crops." At O-G Packing and Cold Storage Company, another major cherry packing house in Stockton, only two cherry lines were running in mid-May instead of three. Tom Gotelli, plant manager, said their tonnage would be down about 60 percent. Based on acreage planted, which is believed to be more than 40,000 acres, California has the potential to hit 12 million 18-pound boxes of cherries, but it's a number the state has yet to see. Around 8 million boxes are considered a full crop. For the northern district in the Lodi-Stockton-Linden area, four to five million boxes are considered a full crop of Bing cherries. Industry sources expected the northern Bing crop to come in this season at less than two million boxes and the state's total crop at about 35 percent of normal. By mid-May, California had shipped less than half its normal volumes. "Every perishable crop has narrow parameters that make it work," said West Mathi- son, president of Stemilt Growers, Inc., in Wenatchee, Washington. Stemilt has majority ownership in Chinchiolo Stemilt California, a cherry packing facility in Stockton, and Mathison family members have orchards in Kern County. "For cherries, you want an early start to the season, winters with enough chill hours for fruit set but not so cold that winter damage occurs, and an early spring but one that avoids spring frosts," Mathison said. "There's only a narrow band around the globe that meets such parameters. "We're near the edge or slightly out of the envelope for cherries in southern California," he said. In an interview last year, Mathison said the need for low-chill varieties is forefront. Plant breeders are working to develop them, and a few varieties boasting low chill and resistance to doubling and spurs have been released in recent years, but it takes time for testing before widespread commercial planting. Others are in the works. New technology Nearly all of California's major cherry packers used electronic sorting technology this year, which was timely considering the difficult crop. With the light crop, growers couldn't afford to color pick their crop and most had to strip pick, which resulted in a wide variance of color, maturity, and size. It's this type of year that the new technology will really make a difference. The new sorters use high-definition cameras or infrared technology to take multiple pictures of each cherry. Sizing accuracy is reported to be from 85 to 98 percent, depending on the equipment manufac- turer, and for defect sorting, accuracy is around 80 to 85 percent. (For more information about sorting technology, see "The future of cherry packing," May 15, 2014, Good Fruit Grower.) This was the first season for Rivermaid Trading to use optical sorting technology they've dubbed "the Oz." Archibeque said it allowed them to sort all ranges of fruit size and maturity. "We have 36 exits, which means a lot of different sizes, colors, and grades. If there's big fruit in the lot, we'll find it and we'll be able to sort the quality fruit that's there." • Left: California cherries being packed at Rivermaid Trading Company. Above: Patrick Archibeque, left, goes over the optical sorting parameters for cherries being packed with Isaac Wilson. "We're near the edge or slightly out of the envelope for cherries in southern California." —West Mathison PHOTOS BY MELISSA HANSEN