Hail devastated 3,000 to 4,000 acres of tree fruit, mainly apples but some cherries, around Manson on the north shore of Lake Chelan.
The storm struck about 4 p.m. May 29 and did $10 million to $12 million in damage to apples, said Doug England, manager of Manson Fruit Cooperative.
That estimate includes crop loss and loss of worker wages, warehouse charges and losses to Manson merchants, he said.
“There probably isn’t an orchard in Manson proper without some hail damage. It varies from half of the fruit is 100 percent gone to 10 to 50 percent damaged in the other half,” England said.
Whether the damaged half is salvageable in the fall depends on demand for hail grade apples for juicing, he said
“It is especially difficult coming off low apple prices of the (2014) season. Mother nature did to us in five minutes what it took the longshoremen five months to do. The effect is about the same,” England said, in reference to a longshoremen work slow down at ports that caused an estimated $95 million in loss of apple exports over winter.
Manson last suffered major hail damage to apples in 2005, but England said that storm was more upper elevation and this storm was more lower elevation right around town.
About 400 acres of cherries around town and along Lake Chelan are wiped out, he said. Higher elevation cherries and apples fared betters with 25 to 40 percent damage, he said.
Manson Fruit Cooperative packs apples but not cherries. Northern Fruit in East Wenatchee, Stemilt Growers in Wenatchee, Bluebird in Peshastin and Gebbers Farms in Brewster all pack cherries from the Manson area.
Source - http://www.capitalpress.com/
