Cherries aren’t for everyone
Nobody growsmore in this country than David Geen, who is optimistic about their future, despite the risks.
By Judie Steeves I
n today’s competitive world, it’s vital that farmers be businessmen first. That’s the belief of Lake Country’s David Geen, who is Canada’s largest cherry grower and
expects to double his current production by 2020. Fromthe first time he considered his future, at the age of 12
or 13,Geen says, he knewhewanted to followin his father’s footsteps—but not into the classroom—into the apple orchard. GeraldGeen had not only followed his own father, Art, into
the orchard business in Lake Country, he also became a teacher. Art planted the first family orchard in the Ellison area in 1903. Over the yearsGeraldGeen served both his community and
the industry, taking his turn as head of the B.C. FruitGrowers’ Association and inmany other posts in the industry before his retirement.He is honored nowas a lifetimemember of the BCFGA. Today, his sonDavid serves on the board of the B.C. Cherry
Association, and heads up themarket access committee dedicated to expandingmarkets for local cherries overseas. Brother Jerry opted to go into real estate instead,whileKevin is a pilot. DavidGeen currently operates 260 acres of producing
cherry orchard in several locations aswell as the packing operation at Coral Beach Farms at Carrs Landing—and he is still planting cherry trees,with 50 acres going in this spring alongHighway 33 inKelowna, 100 acres planted last year in Lavington and 70 acresmore on three leased sites planted recently inOyama. He expects that by 2018 his productionwill double,with full
production by 2020. Despite the risks,Geen is optimistic about the future of the
industry.However, he doesn’t suggest it’s a business that would suit every orchardist. Cherries are a riskier crop than apples. There’s the potential
for a higher reward aswell, he concedes, but says, “There are layers of risk you don’t even think ofwhen you’re growing apples. There’s not just hail, but rain you have to consider as well,when it comes toweather,” hewarns. Cherries are a highly-perishable fruit thatmust be chilled
immediately,whereas if you pick a bin of apples today, it’s not the end of theworld if you don’t get themshipped to the
18 JUDIE STEEVES
There’s potential for great returns, but David Geen advises growers to do serious homework before planting cherries.
packinghouse the same day. “Growers need to think carefully before planting cherries,”
Geen advises. And, the headaches are toomany to bother planting an acre or two of cherries, unless you’re just marketing themat a roadside stand, he says. “Small acreages aremore trouble than they’reworth.” Growersmust do considerable research before putting a tree
in the ground, thenmake decisions aboutmarketing domestically or exporting; choosewhich nichemarkets to growfor, early or late—and decidewhich varieties to grow. “There are a lot of cherries going into the ground in B.C. and
Washington State, so you need to figure out a nichewhere you canmarket. It should be either early or late, rather thanmid- season. “You need to take a close look at theweather patterns in the
block youwant to plant andwhat theweatherwas like on that site in the past,” he explains. For instance, June 15 to 30 is usually rainy in theOkanagan,
so if you’re growing a variety thatwill be in a susceptible stage ofmaturity around those dates, you’d better think again. Fruit cracking is a definite risk three or fourweeks prior to
picking under rainy conditions. Although Lapin is amore rain- tolerant variety, it is still susceptible to cracking two or three weeks ahead of picking time, as is the Sweetheart variety, he advises. Most of the older varieties, like Vans and Bings, ripened
earlier than Lapins do,while Lambertswere a bit later. Growing cherries in theNorthOkanagan is relatively new,
too.Historically, theywere grown in Summerland, Penticton and further south inOliver andOsoyoos for the earlymarket, while today the focus is the later season cherrymarket. “The industrywouldn’t be herewithout the researchwork
done at the Pacific Agri-foodResearch Centre on developing newvarieties,” saysGeen.
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Spring 2014
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