YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) – The region’s agricultural sector seeks to save the cherry harvest.
Due to the high temperatures registered in recent days, the cherry harvest is in danger. If the cherries get too hot, they end up drying out.
Farmers are using covers, sprinklers have been put into operation and evening work shifts have been opened for workers to pick the cherry.
Temperatures are expected to top 100 degrees this week, with a forecast high of around 115 degrees in Yakima County on Tuesday.
The heat wave came just as cherries in Washington state were ripening.
Cherry growers are packing 500,000 cases a day, said BJ Thurlby, chairman of the Washington State Fruit Commission.
So far, the cherries seem to have suffered no consequences from the heat.
– .
