EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan, the nation’s leading producer of tart cherries, is expected to have a bumper crop this year compared to 2023 when frost hurt yields.

USDA is forecasting 182 million pounds of tart cherry production, which would be 37 percent higher than last year in the state.

An unusually mild winter causing trees to bloom early resulted in some frost damage to the crop but warmer temperatures in May along with adequate moisture improved tree growth and fruit development, USDA said. According to USDA, there was also good pollination.

Nikki Rothwell, an extension specialist at Michigan State University, said she agrees with the forecast not just because yields this year look to be excellent.

There were fewer cherries last year because of frost damaging more of the blossoms on the trees.

“We have a better crop,” she said.

Dave Kludy described his tart cherry trees in Shelby as “absolutely loaded.”

He expects his tart cherry yields to be closer to 30 percent higher than last year while predicting a 20 percent drop in his number of sweet cherries.

Kludy, who has a few hundred acres of trees in the west central part of the state, said his sweet cherries were in bloom when the only frost of the season at his farm hit in March.

His tarts were protected from the frost, though, because they’re usually a week or two behind the sweets in blooming.

Most of the projected higher tart cherry yields is from the west central and northwest portion of the state’s Lower Peninsula where most of the Michigan crop is traditionally grown. 

About 10 percent of the tart cherry yields this year will come from the southwest part of the state, which seemed to be negatively impacted more by a January freeze and spring frost.

Jay Jollay, who has about 150 acres of trees in production near Coloma, said his tart cherry numbers will be down a bit from last year. “I would say the crop is kind of a medium to an average-sized crop,” he said.

Sherri Prillwitz said two consecutive nights of hard frost in April at her fruit farm in nearby Eau Claire left her with only about 15 percent of a normal cherry crop. “We had a wonderful crop last year.  It was beautiful,” she said.

Cherry growers throughout the state appear to be harvesting a week or two earlier than normal because of the unusually mild winter. Despite her lost yields, Prillwitz said she still has plenty of cherries for u-pickers but turnout suffered from recent 90 degree temperatures and customers not realizing this year’s crop is ripening much sooner.

Kludy, whose cherries are sold primarily wholesale, said he had to start picking much sooner than normal this year.  

“I’ve been growing cherries for 50 years.  I’ve never in my life seen it this year. This is crazy early.  We’re a solid two weeks or more ahead of schedule,” Kludy said.

Rothwell said quality of the Michigan crop this year could be an issue. She said the skin on some of the cherries is cracking because of the fruit swelling from the wet conditions. The splitting of the skin leaves the inside of the cherries vulnerable to infection especially in warm, humid conditions. 

“We’re seeing quite a bit of disease, so far, this year,” she said.

Rothwell said one reason for the drop in production in the southern part of the state was conditions actually being colder there during the winter than up north.

She said southwest Michigan, overall, still fared pretty well considering 18 million pounds of tart cherries are projected to be harvested when the maximum based on the number of trees is about 25 million pounds.

According to USDA, about 75 percent of the tart cherries produced in the nation come from Michigan.

Washington is the top producing sweet cherry state.