LINDEN, California — Ken Vogel's cherry orchard near Linden is still ripening up.
He has Coral and Bing cherries as the two varieties that he grows in his near 10 acres of the spring-time fruit.
Vogel says he got a "good crop," even if the flowers on some trees bloomed two weeks late. He's not exactly sure why, but he says so far, so good.
Last year, the cherry season wasn't so, well, "cherry."
Thepacker.com reports 2018 cherry volume in California was 3.96 million cartons as compared to 9.56 million cartons in 2017, according to figures from the California Cherry Board.
In 2017, cherries ranked as the fifth most valuable crop in San Joaquin County worth over $184 million.
If weather continues to cooperate, the Linden-Lodi cherry region should see many fruits from their labor this season.
"Right now, what we are hearing from the growers [is that] the crop looks really good," says Bruce Blodgett, Executive Director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation. "It looks like it has the potential to be a very large crop, so, we're excited a little about that but nervous at the same time."
Today's rain in the forecast should not be a problem for ripening cherries.
Right now, they are small and green, but, when they are red and close to maturity, they can be permeable and absorb water.
If that happens, the cherries can split, burst, and destroy the fruit.
Last year, it was a freeze that destroyed a portion of the crop.
Ironically, the potential for a bumper crop year comes another concern, a labor shortage.
With more fruit on the tree, there comes a need for more people to pick it.
"This is a commodity that pays very well," said Blodgett. "People make a lot of money, so we do attract more workers into the region for these few weeks [that] we are going to be in cherry harvest."
So, why the shortage?
"Just a lack of available workers," Blodgett added. "They're working in other industries. People have moved to different industries from time to time. Some people are looking for more permanent jobs, rather than a seasonal job where you are moving from area to area."
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