The Gebbers family has been farming the land around the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers in Washington state in the US for more than 100 years. They have farms and facilities up to the Canadian border, some 6,000 hectares in all, most producing apples, but 1,100 are given over to cherries.
At first glance, the land does not look promising – rocky outcrops, steep slopes plunging into river valleys. It’s genuine cowboy country, and indeed used to be. But the damming of the rivers (the Okanogan and Columbia) for hydropower created lakes that provide additional water needed for the apple and cherry orchards.
Lead Orchard Manager Kevin Benson says: ‘We’re in a desert area, it’s very arid and cherries take a lot of water. We take it from wells and pumps we have permits for from the rivers.’
Pacific Northwest cherries are a favourite, seasonal treat, with the dark, sweet fruits available in shops in the US and Asia, which is the biggest export market, from June to August. They are a pricey premium treat. But spend a day on a cherry farm, see the painstaking work, the labour, technology (old and new – see box) and challenges, and it’s hard not regard them as a bargain.