Variable weather has made it difficult for cherry growers to maintain their crops.

According to B.C. Cherry Association president Sukhpaul Bal the hail storm that cut through the Okanagan Thursday didn鈥檛 affect the crops anymore than the rain this July, which split and washed out the early cherry varieties.

鈥淲hen a storm comes through and gets everything wet we can usually get in there and dry everything off and then we鈥檙e usually good. But what I鈥檝e seen is rain event after rain event, multiple times a day, so it makes it hard to get in there and dry everything up because another rain shower comes back in,鈥� said Bal.

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He said it has been the worst season he has seen in 20 years and has slashed cherry growers revenue in half.

鈥淲e are going to make half the money we were expecting and we鈥檝e put the same amount of costs up to that point as other years, but that鈥檚 the risk of being a cherry grower. In just a week your earnings could be cut drastically,鈥� said Bal.

He said there鈥檚 about half the amount of cherries on market shelves than previous years, which means they are a bit more pricey this season.

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鈥淭he positive is with the decrease in supply because a lot of the cherries are damaged there should be an increase in the price of cherries. There aren鈥檛 that many that survived so hopefully the price reflects on how many cherries there are,鈥� aid Bal. 鈥淗opefully we do get a good price for the cherries we do have that did survive the rain.鈥�

laryn.gilmour@blackpress.ca
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