Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/675334
38 MAY 15, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com and opened the doors to planting more acreage in the hotter south, such as Bakersfield, some 240 miles away. Acreage has surged in the past 10 years due to rising demand in Asian markets and Canada. Bearing acreage climbed from 26,000 to 33,000 from 2007-2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some growers estimate overall acreage is well above 40,000 acres now. In contrast, Washington had 35,000 bearing acres in 2014 and an estimated 40,000 acres in 2015, but produced three times the volume of California in 2015. These days, California's well- documented droughts affect all growers, but they face other challenges specific to cherries — heat stress, salty ground water and low chill. Cherries, more than even apples or pears, require a certain amount of winter chill to thrive the following summer. Central California has not been getting that. Some blame climate change, others the decline of fog. California's Central Valley is famous for tule fog, a winter phenomenon named after a local grass and best known for causing traffic accidents. However, that fog also insulates fruit trees from sunshine, moderating temperatures so the trees can acquire enough chill units. Most locals and meteorologists claim the fog is on the wane. To compensate, Frost turns on overhead microsprinklers or stretches shade netting across his canopies if the temperature climbs above 55 degrees from November 1 to late January, a time of year Washington growers would be more worried about cold hardiness. Private breeders, meanwhile, have been experimenting with new low-chill varieties that tolerate warm winters. Growers commonly plant test plots to Bruce Frost is one of several California growers looking for new cherry varieties that better handle the high summer heat and low winter chill and also ripen earlier. This test variety, 51-011 on Gisela 12, is an experimental variety from a California breeder planted on Frost's Acorn Farms ranch near Bakersfield.