Cold weather puts Okanagan cherry farmers on alert

The steady thrum of helicopters could be heard over a number of Okanagan cherry orchards this week, a tell-tale sign that farmers are working to mitigate the damage wrought by the recent spate of colder than normal days and nights. “The unknown is how much damage was caused,” Glen Lucas of the BC Fruit Growers...

The steady thrum of helicopters could be heard over a number of Okanagan cherry orchards this week, a tell-tale sign that farmers are working to mitigate the damage wrought by the recent spate of colder than normal days and nights.

“The unknown is how much damage was caused,” Glen Lucas of the BC Fruit Growers Association said.

“It will depend on what stage of growth the buds are at and how cold it gets.”

A little damage is OK, he said, but once it starts reducing volumes, it means less revenue. A good scenario from an ill-timed cold snap is a little bit of bud damage that thins the fruit and leaves what remains on the tree to grow to a more robust size. The worst-case scenario is “no crop.”

That extreme scenario has happened before with apricots, which are the first to be harvested in the valley. Next up are peaches, cherries and pears. Apples are the last to be harvested.

“We’ve not seen that with cherries, so that’s not expected,” Lucas said.

“That’s why they’re getting those wind machines and helicopters out there,” Lucas said. “It’s a lot of money to get those out and they’re trying to protect their fruit from damage.”

And, he pointed out, the mitigation methods work, particularly the helicopters, which push warmer air onto the trees.