Growers Expect A Larger Cherry Crop This Year

Cherry producers from across the Northwest met in Richland, WA, this week, and rolled out the first estimate of the 2025 crop.  Northwest Cherry Growers said they are expecting a crop of 21.4 million 20-pound boxes this year, between Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Utah.  If realized, this year’s harvest would be 9% larger than 2024’s crop of 19.5 million 20-pound boxes, and bigger than the three-year average. 

At this week’s Five-state crop estimate meeting, growers said as weather across the region has generally been in the 70 degree range the past month, and that it is clear that the region is “seeing optimal weather for cell division for size and sugar development”.  Northwest Cherry Growers added this year the first bloom in our earliest orchards began on March 28, with full bloom coming on April 9th. 

Growers hope to start harvest on June 1st, which would be in line with last year’s timeline.  The normal growth cycle for sweet cherries is 60 to 65 days from pollination to harvest. 

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