Cherry season is in full swing right now.
The bright red fruit splashed on signs at the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City this week.
But real cherries are also growing across the region, in a massively important industry for northern Michigan. And right now, that industry is facing some uncertainty.
Previous years produced as much as 180 million pounds of tart cherries, but this year's tart cherry crop is on course for only about 30 million pounds.
After last year's federal disaster declaration for sweet cherries, when some farmers lost as much as 90% of their crop, things are looking better for sweets in 2025.
But looming questions about tariffs and federal research funding are making it difficult to plan.
Hear a conversation about this year's crop outlook and the uncertainties growers are facing in the audio player above.
