Last year, the stars aligned for fresh cherry growers, who produced a record crop in both volume and fruit size. The Pacific Northwest produced 14.5 million 20-pound boxes, with California packing 7.4 million 18-pound boxes. The Pacific Coast total was 21.3 million 20-pound boxes. But even more impressive was the high percentage of the crop that was 10.5 row or larger. Nearly 70 percent of the Northwest crop sized at 10.5 or larger, compared with around 40 percent in 2006 and 55 percent in 2005, according to the Washington State Fruit Commission. Retailers were eager to sell the extra volume […]