Growers celebrate strong season as Lower South West cherry harvest winds down

Manjimup is predicted to be set for a bumper cherry crop following favourable conditions this past season. On his last day of harvest on Friday, Cherry Lane Fields grower George Grozitis said early warm weather meant his crop matured quickly, but the season had been outstanding in terms of volume and quality. Most of the State’s cherry farms are situated in the Lower South West on a stretch between Donnybrook and Pemberton, with much of the fruit picked in December and early January. “We had a massive crop this year,” Mr Grozitis said. “We haven’t stopped pouring water on them, we’ve been irrigating 24-7 so they don’t dehydrate. “The weather’s been kind to us in the last week, it wasn’t very hot so we could pick for longer periods. That slows them down a bit.” Mr Grozitis said his choice to pivot away from early-season varieties that were susceptible to splitting if late rain came into later varieties had paid dividends. “We’ve probably picked a bit over the double amount we usually pick,” he said. “We didn’t lose anything, so that’s great.” WA cherries are available for about 100 days a year.