The Northwest cherry industry released its first crop estimate of the year, calling for a harvest between 19.5 and 21.5 million 20-pound box equivalents.
As always, that best guess is subject to change with weather and market conditions.
“Timing, volume, and sizing will continue to evolve in the weeks ahead, but one thing remains consistent: the commitment of our growers to deliver exceptional cherries to the marketplace,” the Northwest Cherry Growers said in an announcement on April 27.
Northwest Cherry Growers collectively promotes sweet cherries for Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah with assessment funding. The promotional effort is operated by the Washington State Fruit Commission, which also publishes Good Fruit Grower.
The organization releases four forecasts throughout the cherry season with estimates of volume, variety mix and timing.
If this week’s estimate holds, the 2026 crop would be about 15 percent lower than the 2025 crop of 23.6 million boxes. That was one of the larger volumes in history.
This week’s announcement also predicts harvest will begin earlier than in recent years and stretch out well over the season, based on the accumulation of growing degree days throughout the spring so far.
“This tells us that the PNW crop is expected to arrive earlier than in the past few years, while also showing a nice spread and no concerns for compression at this time,” the announcement said.
Generally, a spread-out season is easier for the industry to ship and market.
California cherry growers also got an early start, the announcement said. They began harvest in mid-April — about a week ahead of last year — and expect to maintain solid volume through Memorial Day weekend.
California growers have not released seasonal crop estimates since 2024.
Economically, Northwest cherry growers are coming off several tough years. The 2025 crop failed to deliver returns high enough to cover costs of production to many growers, even though the crop was high quality and there was not much market overlap with California. •
