Cherry-drying ’copters noisy, costly, but alternatives the pits for growers
Okanagan orchardists fear rain will force them to resort to hiring helicopters to save cherry crop
Yes, the noise of a helicopter hovering close overhead early in the morning is infuriating. But often, it’s the only way orchardists can save cherries from splitting when it pours rain just as the fruit is about to ripen.
“Despite our worries about the annoyance factor presented by the choppers, 99 per cent of people were very supportive of the need to rescue our crops,” said Kelowna cherry grower Sukhpaul Bal, president of the BC Cherry Association.
“Comments on social media and in person were mostly positive. We want to thank our neighbours for their overwhelming patience and understanding.”
The topic is hot again right now because some orchardists will be turning to helicopters to dry cherries after torrential downpours on Thursday and Friday.
Although farmers usually appreciate a good, cleansing rain, orchardists dread precipitation as the cherry harvest is getting underway.
Cherries that are nearly ripe and ripe have a high natural sugar content.
Such conditions put the fruit at risk because it will soak up rainwater, causing cherries to split.
A split cherry can’t be sold as expensive fresh fruit for eating, home cooking or preserving.
Instead, it has to be used as cheaper process fruit. Or, worse yet, it’s useless and can’t be sold at all.
Last year was relatively dry and few cherries split.
However, in July 2016, with the Okanagan cherry harvest underway, 43 per cent more rain fell than usual.
Every helicopter available was put to work drying cherries, but even that wasn’t enough as lots of fruit split and never made it to market. This week’s thunderstorms have cherry growers thinking they may face a repeat of 2016.
The only practical way to remove rainwater from cherries is to blow it off.
Almost-ripe cherries can’t be wiped dry or they’ll split.
Plus, it’s physically impossible to go around and try to dry off millions of cherries.
The powerful downdraft from a helicopter’s rotors is an effective way of removing rainwater from cherries, especially the water that pools in the blow of the cherry, that little indentation where the stem grows out of the fruit.
Helicopters can dry an acre of cherries in about five minutes.
However, it’s pricey — about $800 to $1,400 per hour of flying time.
Blowers attached to tractors can also be used, but that process takes 40 to 50 minutes per acre.
In a large orchard, most of the crop can be lost before tractor drying is completed.
“Growers understand that helicopters can be annoying to nearby residents,” said Hank Markgraf, grower services manager at BC Tree Fruits.
“They use helicopters only as a last resort.”
The B.C. cherry industry is worth about $150 million a year, and its impact extends well past orchardists to pickers, sorters, fruit-packing facilities, marketers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, consumers and tourists.
Some orchardists have tried to mitigate risk by planting split-resistant varieties of cherries or growing varieties that ripen later in the summer, when it’s generally drier.