Originally published September 16, 2024. At 500,000 twenty-pound boxes more than in 2023, the 2024 Pacific Northwest cherry season has ended in a boom.

The harvest returned 19.2 million 20-ib boxes, 17.7 million of which from Washington state. This output cured fears at the start of the harvest in June that heat might again lead to a decline.

The production beat both 2022’s 13.3 million-box output and 2023’s 18.7 million boxes to emerge the best since the pandemic.

Pointedly, production forecasts in 2024 began on a hopeful note right from January through the end of May.

In May, the Northwest Cherries, which is based in Yakima, Washington, had predicted production to hit 17 to 18 million boxes.

2024 had fair weather,  which excluded the spring frost that hampered pollination in 2022 or the emergency drought of 2023.   

In 2023, Washington, which produces 85% of the northwest region’s total crop, saw 11 of its counties declare a heat emergency.

Exceptionally too, 2024’s market conditions are good in the absence of the competitive California season. In 2023, the Pacific Northwest cherry growers had to contend with poor market offers after California’s season delayed and coincided with theirs. 

Farmers have been praising the crop from as early as June, with some expecting a sweeter crop than the foregoing. Robin French, a farmer, told the Northwest News Network that his Rainier variety would be sweet by between 16 and 21 brix. A combination of fair weather, moderate sun and little wind has helped foster this sweetness range. 

So, it has been a fruitful year in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon, which are the flagship Pacific Northwest cherry hubs. And as the data below illustrates, these states are hubs of national production, too.

Pacific Northwest Cherry Statistics 

The Pacific Northwest region is situated in the northwestern rim of the United States and comprise Utah, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The region leads national sweet cherry production by approximately the ratio of 7:1. In 2023, the region’s output was 18,742,834 20-pound boxes worth $697,78,518 or 67% of the national sweet cherry production.

How big is cherry acreage in the Northwest? 

At 50,500 acres, the region represented 59.7% of the 2023 national cherry area of 84,500 acres.

How much American sweet cherry exports come from the Northwest? 

According to the Northwest Horticultural Council, 71% of American sweet cherry shipments came from the Pacific Northwest in 2023. This regional export base was worth $235,369,040 in 2023.  This is however only a small portion of the total harvest, for the region uses the bulk at home. In 2022 and 2023, for instance, the Northwest exported only 23% and 32.6% of its cherries respectively. 

How high is cherry consumption in the United States? 

In 2022, the U.S. consumed 193,000 tonnes of cherries, down from the 2017 peak of 302,000 tonnes, per Indexbox.