mi-press-releases News Release NR-12-33 June 11, 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Michigan Field Office Michigan Department of Agriculture Post Office Box 30239 Lansing, MI 48909-6248 Phone: (517) 324-5300 Facsimile: (517) 324-5299 E-mail: nass-mi@nass.usda.gov Web site: www.nass.usda.gov Jay V. Johnson, Director Fruit Inventory Results for Sweet and Tart Cherries Results from the 2011 Michigan Fruit Inventory have been compiled for sweet and tart cherries. This inventory of commercial fruit farms was conducted by the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field Office. There were 400 sweet cherry and 450 tart cherry farms at the end of the 2011 season. Sweet cherry trees covered 7,200 acres at the conclusion of 2011, down 300 acres since 2006. There were 720 acres of sweet cherries planted from 2007 through 2011. Sixty-nine percent of the land in sweet cherries was in Leelanau and Grand Traverse Counties. Gold, Emperor Francis, and Ulster were the top three varieties. They accounted for 58 percent of the acres. There were 32,000 acres of tart cherries at the end of 2011, unchanged from five years earlier. Acreage declines in the southwest and west central regions were offset by an increase in the northwest. There were 4,500 acres of new tart cherry plantings from 2007 through 2011. All tables on cherries are available through the NASS home page at www.nass.usda.gov. Select Michigan under Statistics by State to access the Michigan internet page. In the list of Michigan Publications, choose Michigan Rotational Surveys to find the Fruit Inventory 2011-2012 information. Cherries, sweet: Number of farms and acres by county and district ------------------------------------------------------------------ County : Farms : Acres and :------------------------------------------- district : 2006 : 2011 : 2006 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Antrim : 30 27 730 630 Benzie, Charlevoix : 21 21 300 260 Grand Traverse : 83 67 1,500 1,500 Leelanau : 118 107 3,500 3,450 Manistee : 11 9 170 160 Northwest : 263 231 6,200 6,000 : Mason : 15 10 410 360 Oceana : 32 27 450 350 Other counties : 35 34 140 190 West Central : 82 71 1,000 900 : Berrien : 51 38 160 180 Van Buren : 16 16 40 30 Other counties : 12 10 20 25 Southwest : 79 64 220 235 : East : 46 34 80 65 : Michigan : 470 400 7,500 7,200 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Cherries, tart: Number of farms and acres by county and district ------------------------------------------------------------------ County : Farms : Acres and :------------------------------------------- district : 2006 : 2011 : 2006 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------ : Antrim, Charlevoix : 40 34 2,800 3,400 Benzie : 21 22 1,400 1,500 Grand Traverse : 81 76 4,200 4,400 Leelanau : 124 107 8,150 7,800 Manistee : 18 13 800 800 Northwest : 284 252 17,350 17,900 : Kent : 10 8 320 230 Mason : 17 10 1,770 1,850 Oceana : 65 60 8,000 7,900 Other counties : 14 10 260 220 West Central : 106 88 10,350 10,200 : Allegan : 6 200 Berrien : 66 52 1,750 1,550 Van Buren : 30 22 1,850 1,750 Other Counties : 9 9 450 550 Southwest : 111 83 4,250 3,850 : East : 39 27 50 50 : Michigan : 540 450 32,000 32,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------