WA cherry growers will be able to tap emergency loans after last year’s tough season

Cherry farmers in Washington can obtain low-interest federal loans under a disaster declaration for the 2023 growing season.

Weather patterns last year led to a West Coast cherry glut, with an unusually large amount of the fruit harvested in California and Washington around the same time. Fresh sweet cherries are one of Washington’s top agricultural commodities.

“It was hard for the market to absorb,” said Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. Growers struggled to get all of the fruit picked, packed and sold. Fruit went unharvested, prices fell. “Growers did lose a good amount of money,” DeVaney said.

Under the declaration, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cherry growers in 11 Washington counties are eligible for federal emergency loans up to $500,000. Interest rates for USDA emergency loans were 3.75% as of March 1.

“This disaster designation from the Secretary of Agriculture will help growers access federal assistance to keep this $1 billion industry going – and ensure Washington’s famously delicious sweet cherries make it into shopping carts,” U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell said in a statement on Tuesday.

Gov. Jay Inslee requested the disaster declaration last November.

Cantwell, along with the rest of the state’s congressional delegation, sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last month supporting the declaration. 

“Pacific Northwest growers suffered significant economic losses and were forced to leave as much as 35 percent of the crop unharvested,” they wrote.

The loans will give growers facing a cash crunch a way to finance their operations in the near term until they can get a fresh crop of cherries sold. It also gives them a chance to refinance higher-interest debt they might have at a lower rate.

Meanwhile, the disaster designation means the counties could become eligible for agricultural relief funding Congress might approve. But whether that will happen is not clear.

Washington has about 1,500 cherry farms, with around 43,000 acres dedicated to the fruit, according to the most recent USDA statistics.

DeVaney noted that many cherry growers also grow apples or pears. Low commodity prices and elevated production costs, he said, are creating “cashflow challenges” for many of them.