B.C. cherry farmers concerned about crop damage amid rain; helicopters on stand-by
Global News
The potential for more rain could spell disaster for Okanagan cherry crops that are just starting to ripen, valley fruit farmers are saying.
The potential for more rain in the forecast could spell disaster for Okanagan cherry crops that are just starting to ripen, valley fruit farmers are saying.
That means helicopters are on standby to hover over orchards in an effort to save delicate fruit, an issue that is as derided by some valley residents as it is needed by farmers.
“Hiring helicopters is not something we undertake lightly,” Sukhpaul Bal, cherry grower and president of the BC Cherry Association, said in a press release.
“They are very expensive, and if there were another way to save our crop, we would.”
Helicopters can dry an acre of cherries in about five minutes but the cost to growers is somewhere between $1,000 and $1,600 per hour of flying time. Although blowers attached to orchard tractors can also be used, the process takes 40 to 50 minutes an acre.
In a larger orchard, the crop can be lost long before the drying process has been completed.
The issue for cherries is that when they’re nearly ripe, they have a high natural sugar content which draws in rainwater sitting on the fruit, causing it to swell until it breaks open or splits.
Industry representatives say the only practical way to remove rainwater from cherries is to blow it off with the powerful downdraft from helicopters.
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