Northern Michigan cherry farmers report the end of a difficult season, while state officials warn that specialty crop production is approaching a tipping point. Some growers are testing new product formats, though uncertainty remains high.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) stated that last year, farms lost between 30% and 90% of their cherry crops due to severe weather. This year, Michigan growers harvested only 60% of the expected yield.
"I gamble every year, I'm a cherry farmer," said Phil Hallstedt, co-founder of HH Cherries and Red Truck Orchards. "And I guess that's why I don't go to the casinos, right?" He added that March's ice storm added further unpredictability. "When you have more uncertainty, like about the weather, it just creates more pause for what we should be doing."
Trade practices and tariffs have also influenced growers. Isaiah Wunsch, CEO of Wunsch Farms, said input costs for packaging and equipment increased this year. "As a small business in Northern Michigan, I think we sometimes lose sight of how integrated we are into the global economy," he said. Wunsch added that decreased U.S. exports shifted the market, with Washington growers selling more product domestically.
Tim Boring, director of MDARD, told a U.S. House committee that these challenges extend beyond cherries. "Many farmers are debating if they can stay in business, whether it's due to trade uncertainty, rising input costs, climate variability, labor constraints, and threats of pest and disease," he said. "Many specialty crops in this country are either harder to grow, more difficult to get to markets, or challenging as ever to reach the consumer."
Growers in Michigan also cite frost damage as a factor. "Mother nature always wins, lo and behold. We ended up having a pretty large frost event up here," said Greg Shooks, owner of Shooks Farms and Cellar 1914. "We just didn't have enough volume this year to really regain our markets that we had lost to overseas competition."
Looking ahead, farmers say they want stability in 2026. Wunsch noted, "We would hope that, no matter where things go in 2026, we have just a greater level of stability."
Source: 9&10 News