The Cold Weather Damage Now Official: Governor Ask for Disaster Relief

 By: ThomasW. Farris editor of www.northwestcherries.com

Any case you were wondering if I was being too negative about the cards Mother Nature dealt, rest assured now the Governor of Washington is backing me up.

July 2, Governor Christine Gregoire stated on http://www.governor.wa.gov/news/news-view.asp?pressRelease=1528&newsType=1 the following:

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today, while on her “Feeding Washington” tour of Eastern Washington, announced she has asked U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to designate 29 counties in Washington as farm disaster areas due to weather-related losses to agricultural producers. The damage was the result of extreme weather conditions throughout the spring, including severe cold, high winds and excessive rains.



“Conditions this year have been difficult for our growers across Washington, from Clark County to Okanogan,” Gregoire said. “Cold temperatures have harmed our tree fruit crops, while excessive rain made it difficult for bees to pollinate strawberries and other berry crops. A declaration will help our businesses absorb a difficult year and look forward.”



The request includes disaster declarations for Adams, Benton, Chelan, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla , Whatcom and Yakima counties.

The situation is not good for the highly coveted Washington State Cherries. One shipper reported the fruit was hanging on the tree for a much greater extended time than ever before. According to a news release the cherry crop was the earliest bloom ever, the coldest May and June in history, and the latest harvest in history. I don’t quite believe that you can say “in history”, but you can believe that it is one of the most extreme weather patterns, and crop production pattern in recent memory. The unfortunate truth is the quality of this crop is marginal at best. With the hot weather predict for week 27, the cherries hanging on the tree for excessive time periods will have a tendency to get soft very quickly. I wish it wasn’t the case, but you need someone to tell you the real story and not spin this issue in a political way.