Cherry harvest runs ahead of schedule

The cherry harvest around Flathead Lake is expected to begin next week, about 10 days earlier than normal.

“It’s a good crop. The fruit is going to be good,” said Bruce Johnson, president of the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Association.

He expects cooperative members to harvest around 2 million pounds; that doesn’t include nonmembers who operate private cherry orchards.

One cooperative orchard at Finley Point was picked on Friday.

Johnson said he spoke with Brian Campbell, the field representative for Monson Fruit Co., on Friday morning to get harvest projections.

“We’re thinking everything is really going to start rolling probably on July 13,” Johnson reported. “Saturday and Sunday we have a pretty good chance of rain. We let the fruit dry a day, so that puts us to the 12th or 13th.”

About 70 growers belong to the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers cooperative that ships the chilled cherries to Monson Fruit Co. in Selah, Wash., for processing.

Marilyn Bowman of Bowman Orchards, one of the largest Flathead Lake producers, also reported a good-looking crop, with an earlier-than-normal harvest expected.

“We’ll probably start picking next week depending on the weather,” Bowman said Friday morning. “The crop is much better this year. The rain will slow them down a little but, should increase the size.”

Last year’s harvest was smaller because extremely cold weather in November 2014 damaged younger trees.

Flathead Lake is the latest geographic site in North America to grow cherries, and that tends to give local growers an advantage in marketing the crop.

Flathead’s cherry harvest begins in the Finley Point area and works its way north as cherries ripen around the lake, to the Yellow Bay area and ending in the Bigfork area.

Once the harvest is in full swing, roadside stands start popping up around Flathead Lake. A list of retail sellers is posted on the cherry growers’ website at www.montanacherries.com.