The cherry industries in the USA: current trends and future perspectives

Abstract

The United States is a major producer of both sweet and sour cherries, comprising various distinct “cherry industries” across several US regions. The most valuable industry, fresh sweet cherries for long-distance transport to domestic and international wholesale markets, is located primarily in the arid valleys east of the Pacific coastal mountain range in Washington, California, and Oregon. Fresh sweet cherries for short-distance transport to regional wholesale markets, local farm markets, and pick-your-own farm experiences are produced in the Great Lakes states of Michigan and New York, as well as in some Northeast Atlantic coast states near major urban populations, like Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey. Sweet cherries for processing uses - brining, canning, and freezing - comprise secondary industry uses in the Pacific coast states and primary industry uses in Michigan and New York. Sour cherries are grown almost exclusively for processing, predominantly in Michigan, with lesser amounts in Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. Each of these cherry industries varies in scale of production, selection of cultivars and rootstocks, typical insect and disease pests, intensity of orchard management, and production training systems and practices. Most fresh market sweet cherry production is challenged by the cost and availability of high labor requirements. This is driving changes in rootstock adoption and canopy architectures that optimize fruit quality and yield while facilitating greater labor efficiencies. Such changes also facilitate orchard covering technologies to mitigate some climatic risks, though covers currently remain rare. Most sweet and tart cherry production for processing uses is challenged by relatively low economic returns, requiring minimal inputs and mechanization of pruning and harvest when feasible. Trunk-shaker harvest still predominates, but research is increasing for over-the-row (OTR) continuous harvesters and hedgerow-type orchards, which ultimately may stimulate new breeding goals to develop cultivars with specific traits for canopy architecture, fruiting habit, fruit texture, and/or abscission.