By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan correspondent

CLARKSVILLE, Mich. — Michigan’s fruit crop is a mixed bag this year.

Phil Schwalier, Michigan State University District Horticultural Marketing educator for West Central Michigan, said the area’s fruit crops are all about 12-14 days ahead of schedule due to hot, dry weather that has plagued the state since the beginning of the month.

The area’s cherry crop is coming along well, according to Schwalier. “The sweet cherry crop is a very, very nice crop,” he said. “The fruit size is excellent, with excellent quality and sugar.”

“We were concerned when the freeze came at Easter. We had a lot of dead buds, but fruit trees have resilience and ability to produce more flower buds than they need. We’re seeing about 80 percent of a normal crop.

“Tart cherries is a different story. They are about 12 days ahead of normal, with nice quality fruit. But, we only have probably 60 percent of a crop in this area,” he said.

“We saw some late spring frost damage. Sweet cherries came through it a lot better than tarts did. In Traverse City, they have a huge crop of cherries.”

Apples, peaches and other fruits throughout western Michigan are mixed, and Schwalier said the area’s lack of rainfall could take its toll as summer continues.

“The dry weather is starting to affect fruit,” he said. “Since we’ve had nice weather until now, we’re just starting to see signs of early drought. Trees are deep-rooted. They can access water that lawns and annual crops can’t access right away, but the trees are starting to show stress of drought.

“Peaches are hit and miss,” Schwalier said. “Some people have a very good crop and some don’t. Some varieties have a nice crop and others don’t.

“The main thing that hurt our peach crop was the cold weather back in February when it got to 22 below zero. That really killed the flower buds at many locations and on many varieties.”

Schwalier estimated that peaches would average about 40 percent of a normal crop year throughout the area.

The greater Grand Rapids area – also known as Michigan’s fruit ridge – is seeing varied damage in its apple crop due to the late spring frosts.

“The apple crop in the greater Grand Rapids area is probably 70 percent of a crop. It’s quite variable. The freeze did cause major problems with the set of our apple crop,” Schwalier said. “Fremont and north appear to have a very heavy apple crop. Further north, they have 100 percent of a crop.”

Schwalier said the primary concern now among growers is continued hot, dry weather.

“The peach and apple crop could be affected by this drought,” he said. “There are blueberries. They are also early and they appear to have  a really nice crop at this point, but they could also be hurt by drought if we don’t start getting some rain.”