WA lawmakers call for sweet cherry harvest disaster declaration
By Dan Thesman on Monday, February 5th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Spokane) joined a group of Washington lawmakers in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Friday, urging him to expedite and issue a secretarial disaster designation for the 2023 fresh sweet cherry harvest.
Sweet cherry growers in Central and Eastern Washington faced devastating challenges throughout the 2023 season. Unusual weather patterns, including unseasonably high temperatures in Washington state, combined with heavy rains and cold weather in California, led to a shorter season for Washington growers and an oversupply of sweet cherries. Many growers in the state were forced to leave crops unharvested and experienced significant economic losses.
The lawmakers wrote in the letter, “Pacific Northwest growers suffered significant economic losses and were forced to leave as much as 35 percent of the crop unharvested due to this weather-driven disaster. We understand data provided to USDA indicates growers experienced losses of more than 50 percent.”
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