Press Releases

Last week, Representative Jack Bergman led a letter to Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting support for Michigan cherry farmers during this time of crop loss due to high rainfall. The letter was also signed by Michigan Representatives Walberg, Huizenga, and Moolenaar.

The members underscored to the Biden Administration that abnormally high rainfall in western lower Michigan is negatively impacting sweet cherry production, which inspired Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s disaster declaration request.

The letter stated, in part, “We have heard from farmers in our districts that have seen near total cherry crop loss. The higher-than-average rainfall has led to an increase in Spotted Wing Drosphilia and fungi like Cherry Leaf Spot and American Brown Rot. Taken together these pests and diseases have decimated cherry production in Michigan.”

Rep. Bergman requested that the USDA Farm Services Agency data from its county-by-county surveys be used to promptly provide resources for Michigan farmers once it becomes available, to “ensure Michigan - the #1 cherry producing state in the U.S. - can continue to supply American families with the high-quality Michigan cherries that they love.”

Read the full letter here.