Tart cherry production in Michigan in 2012 was lower than the previous low record set in 2002. (Statistics from the USDA.)
Credit Lindsey Smith / Michigan Radio
Apple production in Michigan in 2012 was the lowest producing since 1945. (Statistics from the USDA.)
Credit Emily Fox / Michigan Radio
Tart cherries are the main cherry crop in Michigan.
Credit Emily Fox / Michigan Radio
Ben LaCross manages 750 acres of cherry trees on the Leelanau Peninsula. This year some of his trees were bare of fruit when they would normally hold 50-100 pounds of cherries each.
You probably know 2012 was just horrible for Michigan’s fruit growers. But new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows it was officially the worst on record since tracking began – in 1925.
There were only 11.6 million pounds of tart cherries produced in Michigan, usually the nation’s top producer of the fruit. That’s a 92 percent drop from last year’s 157.5 million pounds.
Marty Saffell is a USDA statistician based in the Michigan office in Lansing.
“For some of the fruits like peaches pears plums and cherries there are the majority of the growers had essentially zero crops so there was essentially zero income,” Saffell said.
Saffell says Michigan apple growers had the worst year since 1945.
Michigan is the largest blueberry producing state in the country, and Van Buren County produces the most blueberries in Michigan.
“It’s natures perfect fruit, if you stop and think about it. There’s not any seeds that you have to deal with. You don’t have to peel it. You rinse it. You eat it. And not only do they taste good, they’re good for you,” Shelly Hartmann said.
Hartmann owns The Blueberry Store in downtown South Haven and a huge blueberry farm, True Blue Farms, in Grand Junction.
At The Blueberry Store you can get just about anything with blueberries in it. “Blueberries aren’t just for pancakes and muffins anymore,” Hartmann said.
I spot blueberry bath soaps, blueberry coffee, frozen and fresh blueberries, blueberries in brats and sausages, chocolate covered blueberries, blueberry candles, dog treats, mustard, popcorn, soda pop, butter, cookies, pancake mix, pie filling, jam, jelly and blueberry whoopee pies. Plus there’s dried blueberries, and even blueberry flavored beef jerky. The list goes on and on.
Hartman says this year’s crop has been affected by the dry conditions, but fared much better than other fruits grown in the region.
The National Blueberry Festival celebrating the region’s top fruit crop in South Haven is nearly 50 years old. Organizers typically expect around 40,000 people to come for the blueberry pancake breakfast, the live music, a blueberry parade and the very messy but very entertaining blueberry pie eating contest.
Here's a video the festival posted on youtube of one of the blueberry pie eating contests Friday afternoon.
Fruit growers and processors in Michigan might get some help in the form of low interest loans if an expected package of bills moves through the legislature.
The loans are aimed at providing relief to those who lost most of their fruit crops after an unusual spring warm spell was followed by extended freezing temperatures.
MLive reports Michigan Department of Agriculture Director Keith Creagh said today the bills would create "five-year low interest loans":
The loans, which will be administered by banks and agricultural lenders, will meet an estimated total economic need of some $300 million in the state’s fruit growing and processing industry, Creagh said while attending the Michigan Food Processing and Agribusiness Summit.
Securing the loan guarantees at a low interest rate of 1 percent or 2 percent could cost the state about $15 million, Creagh said. The 5-year loans would be structured so borrowers would only pay interest in the first two years, he said.
Creagh says he'll also seek federal financial support for Michigan fruit growers and processors.
Warmer temperatures and melting snow are less than ideal for winter sports and outdoor festivals. But the weird weather has northern Michigan fruit growers holding their breath, hoping to avoid disaster.
In his more than 20 years as an agricultural extension agent in the Traverse City area, Duke Elsner says this is the most bizarre winter weather he’s ever seen.
“The ups and downs have just been remarkable. The inability to hang on to a cold period for any length of time has been very strange.”
A gradual drop in temperature at the beginning of winter and holding there below freezing for long periods are the ideal conditions for plant to become frost hardy, and hardiness is what protects them from getting damaged by cold.
But when temps bounce up into the 40’s and 50’s as they’ve done frequently this winter, some of that hardiness is lost.
“Our trees and vines can take below zero in a normal winter. I sure wouldn’t want to drop below zero at this point in time, I’ll say that.”
That’s fruit grower Jim Nugent. He and a couple of his neighbors are doing the yearly chore of pruning his cherry trees. With long-handled saws, they reach up eight or ten feet to strip away branches and limbs.
Nugent knows his orchard is vulnerable right now because of a loss of winter hardiness. But there’s not a lot he can do about it.
Things could go either way at this point.
A sudden drop to zero would be serious.
But orchards still may slide by unscathed. If temps gradually drop below freezing and stay there, trees will regain some of their hardiness.
Not only will there be way more Michigan apples this year, they’ll probably be bigger and better looking too.
According to estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture, Michigan apple growers are likely to produce 26.1 million bushels this season. The 5 year average is 19.5 million bushels. Only Washington and New York state grow more.
Denise Donohue is the Executive Director of the Michigan Apple Committee.
“This is the 5th year on the rollercoaster for Michigan. It’s been an up and down thing for the last three years in particular.”
‘Food deserts’ are a growing problem in Michigan cities. Two Michigan State University professors believe they have an idea that might help.
'Food deserts’ are created when local supermarkets close and there’s no place where people can walk to buy fruits, vegetables and other fresh food.
MSU professors Phil Howard and Kirk Goldsberry wanted to see how bad the problem is in Lansing. Goldsberry says he was surprised that large sections of the capitol city are ‘food deserts’. He says, in many cases, if you want fresh food, you must drive to Lansing’s suburbs.
“The suburbanization of groceries has placed our best markets in commercially zoned in non-residential, automobile oriented areas. Essentially geographically separating our best produce sections from our most densely populated neighborhoods.”
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