Clarence Peters was surprised that Saskatchewan fruit grew as well as it did this year.
The provincial fruit specialist said 2004 was the “worst example of weather-related problems” he has ever seen.
But more growers than he expected had good production, despite the cold wet spring, cool summer and early frost. While quality was down from the average, there were exceptions.
Total fruit acreage planted in 2004 was about 1,800 acres, planted by approximately 400 growers. Peters said it’s more difficult to get exact numbers now that the extension agrologists are no longer working in many communities.
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An estimated 1,300 acres were harvested, most of them saskatoons. Peters said 1,200 acres of the berries were planted.
“I think we lost probably close to 200 of that,” he said, due to disease and weather factors.
Maturity was delayed by one to two weeks, except in the northern growing area where they were right on time, he said. In some cases the plants did not reach maturity at all.
Production of saskatoon berries was below average and quality was variable.
Peters said all kinds of diseases were problems this year, including rust, leaf and berry spot, brown rot and powdery mildew.
Pests like tarnished plant bugs, hawthorn lacebugs, woolly elm and woolly apple aphids, along with birds, also caused severe damage.
Chemicals are approved to control diseases and pests.
“With saskatoons, we’re not at the stage where we could ever dream of growing it organically,” Peters told members of the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association at their annual meeting Nov. 13.
Dwarf sour cherries, however, can be grown organically, he said. There are about 150 acres of cherries planted, and one-third are producing fruit.
There were an estimated 65 acres of chokecherries and about half of that harvested. Peters said those numbers are misleading because there are thousands of acres of chokecherries in shelterbelts that people are picking.
