SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY -- Fewer cherries, lower production and more financial struggle. That's what farmers are experiencing in the San Joaquin County, with a 43% drop in harvest predicted this year due to weather whiplash.
"On a normal year, these would be loaded," San Joaquin County Farm Bureau Federation Vice President and Lodi Blooms Owner James Chinchiolo said. "This is not what I farm for."
Two weeks after the disaster declaration was announced, local leaders helped push the U.S. Department of Agriculture to step in.
"We're announcing a $3 million purchase of cherries immediately to try to make sure that folks can get back on their feet," Congressman Josh Harder said. "But this is just the beginning because we're seeing $100 million of losses just in San Joaquin County cherries this year."
The move is to help stabilize the market and create another way for the current crop to be used. Most importantly, it will help family cherry farms and processors stay afloat.
But, it's not just any kind of cherry the USDA plans to purchase.
"In circumstances where we have an abundance of cherries and the what we call the seconds, or in other words, the cherries that don't make it to the Fresh Market, there's money that the government is providing for those cherries to become now available to people that would otherwise not be able to enjoy cherries," Chinchiolo explained.
The only difference about these cherries is potential minor defects, like being off color or bruising.
Instead of being thrown away, the USDA is drying these sweet cherries so they can still be enjoyed by cherry lovers and help farmers along the way.
"If the government comes in and helps us, you know, and supports buying these and taking these off the marketplace, great. It's perfect," Chinchiolo said.
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