For the second year in a row, life is anything but a bowl of cherries for growers of one of San Joaquin County’s top crops.
The annual cherry harvest has begun, but it appears that unseasonable heat early in the year and recent storms may have damaged much of the local fruit, San Joaquin County Agricultural Commissioner Kamal Bagri told Stocktonia.
The lastest punishment from Mother Nature occurred just two weeks ago, when a spring storm brought days of rain to the area.
The full extent of any damage to the crop won’t be clear for about another week, when more complete data from the county’s approximately 300 cherry growers rolls in, Bagri said.
The worry is that the fruit may not meet expectations for size or quality. Some of the more early-season rain and hail caused havoc even before the late-season troublemaker.
Rain that falls as harvest approaches can be especially ruinous. It can cause the fruit to absorb water and rupture, splitting open in ways that allow mold to grow.
There is a potential that some trees may have so much damaged fruit that it will not be profitable to pick the cherries and sort the good from the bad, Bagri said.
“Every year we pray for no rain during this time of the year,” she said. “It’s all up to Mother Nature.”
More than half of California’s cherry crop in 2024 was grown in San Joaquin County, the most recent crop report produced by Bagri’s office shows. Cherries were the sixth most valuable agricultural product in the county that year, with an estimated worth of $240 million.
But last year, hot weather decimated the crop, so much so that Bagri filed a disaster declaration with the state and U.S. Department of Agriculture. The crop was down by more than 43% from the previous year.
Should disaster strike twice and the local crop reports indicate another painfully poor harvest, she said she will file again.
One of the luckier cherry growers in the area is James Chinchiolo, a fourth-generation farmer whose Chinchiolo Farms has both cherry and walnut orchards. In addition to his commercial businesses, Chinchiolo operates Lodi Blooms, a popular you-pick-’em farm for families in search of a fun and tasty outing. He plans to open at 8 a.m. Friday.
He said last month’s storm damaged about 10% to 15% of his cherry crop. But it could have been much worse.
“Many members of the industry have visited my orchard and said, ‘You must have God on your side,’ ” Chinchiolo said.
Divine intervention or not, Chinchiolo actively worked to protect his trees as storm clouds brewed last month. He said he applied calcium and salt to try to thwart any water absorption. He also had a helicopter fly low over the orchards so that the downward rush of air generated by its main rotor would wick away water, much like the powerful blowers at a commercial car wash.
Plus, it helped that his orchards were in good shape at the start.
“I spend a lot of time making sure my trees are as healthy as possible,” he said.
Bagri remains cautiously hopeful about the overall health of the county’s cherry industry.
Another bad harvest could force some growers to fall behind on loan payments. Still, as with all agricultural endeavors, veteran growers have endured myriad challenges.
“They are very resilient,” Bagri said. “They are in this business knowing the risk.”