Catastrophic frost period brings cherry harvest in Brandenburg to a standstill

Catastrophic frost period brings cherry harvest in Brandenburg to a standstill

Brandenburg : Historically bad cherry harvests meet the fruit farmers hard

This year's cherry harvest in Brandenburg is expected to be the lowest since 1992, as is estimated by the country's fruit growing companies. With only 110 tons forecasted yield, the numbers are a whopping 650 tons below the average yield of the previous year. The Office for Statistics Berlin-Brandenburg reports that over two thirds of the companies expect a complete crop failure, which is heavily stressed by the industry.

The main reason for the exceptionally large crop failure is the short but intensive frost period between April 21 and 25, 2024. Temperatures of up to –7 c ° have seriously added to the flowering cherry trees, which destroyed more than 9% of the harvest. Currently, a harvest of approx. 29 tons of sweet cherries and 81 tons of sour cherries are expected, which corresponds to a decline of around 95% in sweet cherries and 63% in the sour cherries.

The earnings expectations are far below the six -year means, with sweet cherries probably only reach 1.3 decitons per hectare, significantly less than the historically lowest yield from 2017 at 4.5 decitons per hectare. The acreage for cherries has decreased continuously since 2007, with sweet cherries being grown on an area of around 226 hectares and sour cherries on 62 hectares.

It remains to be hoped that the further course of the weather will have a positive effect on the harvest, even if the final estimate of the yield depends on further developments. The fruit growers in Brandenburg are facing a difficult season in which they are faced with considerable losses.