By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist , a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Walking between rows of dormant cherry and apple trees in mid-November, Raul Gomez, operations manager at Wunsch Farms on the Old Mission Peninsula, pointed out sweet cherry varieties like black pearls. I was there to hear about how the past year’s volatile weather affected crops in the region. Gomez grew up in the area, and has been working in agriculture in some form or other since he was a teenager. Like most anyone in the industry, he said they’ve always been beholden to the weather. Even so, this year was challenging for Michigan’s cherry growers. From heat to rain, weather hammered orchards. A record-warm winter was followed by a wet spring marked by rain, which led to fruit bursting and rotting on the trees. That brought pests and disease, like brown rot, which diminished the quality of several varieties and the size of the harvest. That rain also washed off pesticides, which meant growers had to spend more money trying to keep pests off the fruit. As the summer wore on, “the water just shut off completely,” said Nikki Rothwell, a specialist with Michigan State University Extension, and the coordinator of the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center. “I don’t know if we could get any more challenging,” she said. “I mean, it just seemed like we had it all.” The sweet crop was especially damaged. The governor’s office estimated that up to 75% of the crop was gone. The tart cherry crop fared better, and was up substantially over last year, but the quality declined. This fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved Gov. […]
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