BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Cherry growers in Kern County experienced significant loss in their crop due to the extreme heat followed by rain in recent months, and now county officials are looking to the state for help.

The county is planning to send a letter to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services addressing the cherry crop loss, according to the Kern County Board of Supervisors regular meeting agenda for Tuesday.

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According to the letter drafted by the Kern County Agriculture and Measurement Standards, a survey of Kern’s cherry growers revealed about 42% in loss of overall production for the 2025-2026 season, with a yield of 2.07 tons per acre. Their five-year average is 2.66 tons per acre.

Cherry growers in the county are expected to suffer a financial loss estimated at $13,561,280, county officials said in the letter.

During the month of March, Kern County went through “one of the most extreme early-spring heat events in decades,” the letter read.

The heat wave began around March 16 with temperatures in the mid-90s, although the average temperature in Kern County in March is in the 70s, officials said. Heat records were broken and the heat dome lasted 11 days.

According to the letter, early heat stress can seriously — and sometimes irreversibly — impact cherry trees’ growth, flowering and fruiting potential, as they are sensitive to heat during their developmental stages.

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Early heat can also shorten the chilling period the trees need, the letter said.

A moderate rainfall then followed in April, which Kern growers said caused the cherries to crack and split. Cracking and splitting caused by rain is a major cause of fruit loss, according to officials.

The letter is asking Cal OES to consider Kern County for a Secretarial Disaster Declaration designation. If a written request is submitted by the governor and approved by the U.S. secretary of agriculture, all eligible producers in Kern could receive low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency.

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