CASHMERE — The Washington State Tree Fruit Association estimates around 10.6 million 44-pound boxes of pears will be harvested in the Northwest region — a 31 percent decrease from the past five-year average.
Jon DeVaney, Washington State Tree Fruit Association president, said the pear crop forecast combines Washington and Oregon harvest. Last year, the crop was around 13.4 million 44-pound boxes.
DeVaney said the decrease is due to cold weather damage to the buds and blossoms on the crops during the winter and in the spring.
As pear orchards are seeing a loss in production, many of the pears that do grow are suffering from “cosmetic damages,” DeVaney said.
Frost damage on buds and on the flowers can cause discoloration and make some of the pear skin rough, DeVaney explained.
“Even though the fruit can still be eaten and taste normal, it doesn’t look as attractive, which can make it harder to sell,” DeVaney said.
Because many of the damaged pears won’t do well in the market, farmers will sometimes choose not to pick those pears because they won’t see a return in profit, leaving picking crews without a job, DeVaney explained.
DeVaney said the Washington-Oregon pear crop has not been this low in 40 years. He noted that many pear growers in the Wenatchee-Cashmere area are reporting a 50 percent decrease in their crops.
Alejandro Lanuza was a farmworker in pear orchards in Cashmere 40 years ago and said that was a bad year for pear farmers, and this year is just as bad.
Lanuza now co-owns a 40-acre pear orchard, Spears Orchard, in Cashmere, where on Monday his crews began picking pears to fill bins that can hold more than 1,000 pounds of pears. The fruit goes to Blue Star Growers warehouse in Cashmere to get packed into boxes. Each bin can fill 25 to 26 44-pound boxes of pears, Lanuza said.
Normally, Lanuza has a 14-person harvest crew at Spears Orchard, but this year only hired seven.
Each pear season at Spears Orchard, crews on average harvest around 1,400 1,000-pound bins, Lanuza said. He said he expects between 400 and 500 1,000-thousand-pound bins to get filled this pear season.
Another orchard Lanuza manages normally fills around 500 1,000-pound bins a season, but filled around 93 1,000-pound bins this year, he said. A third orchard he manages usually fills around 250 1,000-pound bins, only filled 80 1,000-pound bins.
Lanuza said the economic impact is going to hurt next year, as this year’s harvest returns are to support the cultivation of next year’s harvest.
“If everyone thinks that this year is tough, wait until we hit next year,” Lanuza said. There are no funds. So we are going to be struggling to keep going.”
