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Torrential downpours soaked local cherry orchards on Thursday, causing some growers to call on helicopters to help dry their crops.
The cherry harvest is just getting going in B.C., and although local farmers are aware of the need for a good cleansing rain, they are hoping for minimal rainfall on their orchards for the rest of the season.
However, should it continue to rain on the ripening fruit, many cherry growers may again be forced to use these aircraft to protect their investments.
“Hiring helicopters is not something we undertake lightly,” said Sukhpaul Bal, cherry grower and president of the BC Cherry Association, said in a news release issued Friday morning. “They are very expensive, and if there were another way to save our crop, we would.”
Cherries that are nearly ripe have a high natural sugar content and this draws in rainwater sitting on the fruit, causing it to swell until it breaks open, or splits.
Although 2017 was relatively dry, in July 2016, Environment Canada records show that precipitation was 43 higher than average.
Helicopter pilots were kept busy trying to keep up with the demand for their services.
Many growers were forced to abandon their crops altogether because of the high rate of splitting due to the unusually heavy rainfall that occurred around the time of harvest.
Industry representatives say the only practical way to remove rainwater from cherries is to blow it off, he said.
The powerful downdraft from helicopter rotors is highly effective in removing rainwater pooling in the stem bowl of the cherries, he said.
Helicopters can dry an acre of cherries in about five minutes, however, they cost growers between $800 and $1,400 an hour of flying time, he said.
Although blowers attached to tractors can also be used, the process takes 40 to 50 minutes an acre. In a larger orchard, the crops can be lost before the drying process has been completed, he said.
There is a significant financial impact from the loss of a cherry crop. The most immediate concern is for the farmer, whose family’s entire annual income is often tied to the outcome of this single crop, said Bal.
The B.C. cherry industry has an annual value in the neighbourhood of $150 million and directly employs not only the orchard owners, but also pickers, sorters, packing facilities, marketers, distributors, and suppliers.
It likewise benefits retailers, and people in other secondary industries, such as the tourist trade.
Thus, protecting the grower’s investment is important to the local economy, and there is only a short window in which to do so, he said.
Hank Markgraf Grower Services Manager at BC Tree Fruits echoed Bal’s message.
“Growers understand that helicopter noise can be annoying to nearby residents, and they use helicopters only as a last resort,” said Markgraf. “Orchardists use other means to prevent splitting first, such as the planting of split-resistant cherry varieties, or new varieties that ripen later in the summer when it’s usually dryer.”
When asked about his neighbours’ concerns over early morning helicopter use, Bal praised local Okanagan residents
“In 2016, despite our worries about the annoyance factor presented by the choppers, 99 percent of people were very supportive of the need to rescue our crops,” he said. “Comments in social media and in person were mostly positive. We want to thank our neighbours for their overwhelming patience and understanding.”
Whether growers will turn to helicopter use again this summer, like they did in 2016, depends on the weather.
The Thursday downpour experienced in most areas of the Okanagan put earlier-ripening cherry varieties at risk, but growers are hoping for a drying trend to help them out, and make everyone’s summer a success, said Bal.
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