General Production Information

● Pennsylvania ranks fifth or sixth in the U.S. in the production of tart cherry, producing from 2.3 to 3.1 % of the total U.S. crop in 1995-1997 (1). ● Production was 6.5 million pounds of tart cherries on 1500 acres during the 1997 crop year, down from 9.5 and 7.5 million pounds in 1995 and 1996, respectively (1). ● Tart cherry production value in Pennsylvania was $866,000 in 1997, down from $1,012,000 and $1,699,000 in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The season-average price was $0.107, $0.227, and $0.133 per pound in 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively (2). ● In the last decade, acreage has decreased by 29%, while production has varied between 3.5 and 11.5 million pounds (1, 2). ● The Pennsylvania tart cherry crop is concentrated in Region I, or the south central district of the state, which has 82 % of the state's 130,951 trees. In this region, Adams County has 94,424 trees or 71 % of the state's trees. The second and third counties for numbers of tart cherry trees ar