Cherry grower Brian Campbell couldn’t be happier with this year’s harvest, and what he describes as “probably one of the best markets we've seen” for the luscious red fruit grown on the shores of Flathead Lake.

“I'm not exaggerating,” he said Tuesday morning. “We haven't had a crop go so nicely with a good market and good fruit and just good weather and everything working like this in years.”

The harvest began a week ago and will continue through early August, with pickers collecting Lamberts, Lapins, Skeenas, Kootenays and a few other varieties. So far, they’ve picked a little over 500,000 pounds and growers hope to harvest close to two million by the time they’re done.

In addition to raising his own fruit at an orchard on Finley Point, Campbell is also a field consultant for Monson Fruit Company in Selah, Wash., which sells fruit for the 86 orchards that belong to members of the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Cooperative. He noted that this year’s market is good in part because Washington growers had an earlier-than-usual crop, making for a sparse supply of cherries in the middle of summer.

“Prices are up just because the volume of cherries is down, so it’s a simple supply-and-demand thing,” Campbell said. "This year is going to be probably the best in years, and might be the best in history, price-wise for us."

Often, he added, Washington producers swamp the market, with many cherries ripening at the same time as Flathead varieties. In those years, “the market just gets swamped with cherries, and they can't sell them all, and it's a mess.”

Another factor in this year’s harvest is the weather, which has been cooperative for a change. A wet spring helped orchards flourish, and the current spate of warm, windy weather has been perfect for the harvest. 

The only caveat, said Campbell, was four days of drenching rain at the end of June, which devastated the crop of early-season Rainier cherries. He estimates that the Rainiers comprise about 5% of the harvest. 

Quick showers, like the one that blustered through Polson Friday night, don’t tend to do much damage. But prolonged rain, followed by hot weather, causes ripe cherries to split open.

“If they're soaking in rain for a couple hours, and then the sun comes out and heats them up, they can pop,” he said. “So luckily, we're doing really well on that front.”

Orchard owners also seem to have plenty of pickers this year to ensure that the fruit makes it off the trees in a timely fashion. Most of the crews that work in Flathead orchards come from Washington. Campbell said he hasn’t heard of any issues regarding migrant workers, other than rumors of people “not wanting to come because they're afraid to.” 

Still, fears about an immigration crackdown haven’t diminished this year’s workforce. “Every grower has enough pickers.”

He noted that escalating fuel prices will impact growers who transport fruit to the receiving center on Finley Point, and then pay to have it trucked to the Monson warehouse in Selah – about a seven-hour drive. Of course, those local growers who sell their cherries at roadside stands or offer “u-pick” options won’t feel as much of a fuel pinch.

Regardless of how cherry lovers procure their fruit, “I just want to let people know that the crop is really beautiful this year and the cherries are nice and big and taste great,” he said. 

He hopes the weather continues to cooperate for a few more weeks until the harvest ends, “and then we want it to rain all over and put out the fires.”