By Nikki Rothwell and Chris Bardenhagen
The 2026 spring has been a mixed bag for Michigan’s cherry growers. This spring follows what climatologists would consider a more “typical” Michigan winter where we saw consistently cold temperatures and ample snow cover. However, as spring approached, there has been a marked diversion in temperatures between the northern and southern halves of the state.
The southern portion of Michigan has been warmer than normal and close to two weeks ahead of seasonal growing degree day (GDD) averages. In this case, cherries came out of dormancy quickly with the warmer-than-normal spring temperatures. However, this region also had incredible swings in temperatures (it was 80.7 degrees Fahrenheit on April 23 and 54.8 F on April 25), and the cold nighttime temperatures that followed those daytime highs caused some damage to the various stages of bloom in tart and sweet cherries.
In contrast, spring in the northern half of Michigan has been a long, drawn-out affair with lingering cold daytime temperatures and nighttime temperatures that have dipped below freezing, at times noticeably below 32 F. In the north, trees have been slowly coming out of dormancy, but those particularly cold nights may have also resulted in some damage to cherries.
To this end, many growers have variable crop loads in their cherry blocks, both across their own farms and certainly across the three primary cherry growing regions in the state. Growers are trying to make economic decisions based on their individual crops. This article is intended to provide some guidance on how intensely to manage orchards with variable crop loads.
The initial step in determining how to manage cherry orchards with frost damage is to first assess the amount of damage. Wait until enough time has elapsed so that cherries not damaged by frost and were successfully pollinated are starting to properly size. Cherries in the southwest may be far enough along to determine their crop loads, whereas northern growers will need to wait until fruit have a chance to develop more before making an accurate assessment. Cherries that are still in the shuck, brown or very small are not likely to develop further, or it is still too early to determine how much fruit has set.
Source : msu.edu