Whitmer asks the USDA to assist struggling Michigan cherry farmers

TRAVERSE CITY — Many enjoyed the mild winter we had earlier this year, but Northern Michigan cherry farmers weren’t happy.

When cherries experience too much warm weather and humidity, it opens up doors to invasive species and fungi. With the Earth’s climate warming, that’s likely to happen more and more.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking for relief for cherry farmers suffering from a particularly disastrous year of weather.

“The amount of rain that we had caused us to have to spray over and over to keep out disease, and we just couldn’t keep up with what was happening. It’s heartbreaking when all the costs that we put into our orchards were done by the time that we saw these problems happening,” said Emily Miezio, Michigan Cherry Committee board member and Cherry Marketing Institute chairperson.

Whitmer said the estimated crop loss for sweet cherry growing counties in Michigan ranged from 30% to 75%, leaving some farmers to quit the cherry business altogether.