Cherry harvest in Germany will be weak

As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday (July 1) on the basis of the first harvest estimate as of June 10, 2024, the companies are expecting a total harvest of sweet and sour cherries of 41,100 tons. According to this, the cherry harvest would be 2.3% better than the previous year's 40,200 tons, but 13.2% worse than the average for the years 2014 to 2023 of 47,300 tons. The nationwide sweet cherry harvest in 2024 will be an estimated 33,800 tons, but only 0.9% below the average of the past ten years. Compared to the less good harvest in 2023, that would be 4.4% more. In almost all federal states, according to Destatis, expectations are well below the level of recent years. Late frosts during the flowering period and the rainy spring caused considerable damage to the orchards, even total failures, according to the Wiesbaden statisticians. According to initial estimates, the lowest yield of sour cherries in the last ten years is likely. One reason for this ...