07/31/2007

Forum

Cherry industry needs investment

BY EDWARD J. HAHNENBERG

I have been a small cherry grower since 1975 and have lived through the ups and downs of the tart cherry industry for over 30 years. This month I removed all but three trees of my remaining 16-acre tart cherry orchard. This action was taken after dumping some of my best fruit on the ground in accordance with the Cherry Industry Administrative Board preliminary diversion requirement of 52 percent of this year's crop. As usual, demand continues to fall short of supply.

That sad day came a month after my co-op informed me that, due to mismanagement, it could only pay me 75 percent of 2006 target prices, not only for tart cherries but also for black sweets and apples.

I can tolerate occasional administrative errors made in a highly speculative market. What I cannot accept is the spineless attitude of growers who are not willing to control supply by other means, such as paid tree removal and acreage limits for high-volume growers. Freezing temperatures cannot be relied on to limit production.

Further, growers have always opted to advertise "on the cheap,” limiting our advertising tax to ineffective restaurant placemats, brochures, etc. We need leaders among growers to promote advertising taxes that reach a national audience.

I propose an advertising tax that can generate an annual national, industrywide budget for advertising of $75 million. Shocking to pay 25 cents a pound for national advertising? Yes, but think of all the national ads funded by entrepreneurs who have invented this widget or that household gadget.

When was the last time you saw on TV an ad promoting cherries in a clever way … such as the cranberry industry does or orange growers do?

We were promised $1 a pound years ago. That was truly "pie in the sky” then, just as it is today. The tart cherry industry will never reach that goal unless growers are willing to limit their production to meet demand and engage in an aggressive advertising campaign with self-imposed taxes that raise the necessary funding.

Finally, in addition to advertising, the quality of the cherry pie and the growing number of cherry products, the industry needs to invest in researching the obvious health benefits of dried cherries and cherry juice.

The growers have to fund this themselves. The federal and state governments certainly will not. The Food and Drug Administration has even cautioned farm market owners such as myself not to make health claims for tart cherries, even though there is a growing market for cherry juice because those who suffer from arthritis swear it significantly diminishes their pain.

Cherry growers have to believe in the quality and healthfulness of their product and be willing to invest in a different direction than presently provided by the under-funded Michigan Cherry Committee. Otherwise, next year, as this year and last, growers will continue to fertilize next year's crop by shaking their cherries on the ground and the $1 a pound goal will continue to be "pie in the sky.”

About the author
Edward J. Hahnenberg is the owner of Hahnenberg Farm Market in Lake Leelanau.

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