Every year, the mix of pollen Firman sells to growers is a little bit different. New varieties which benefit from supplemental pollen applications emerge; weather impacts growing regions differently; the market changes; or technology advances make using pollen easier, more attractive and more effective.
So, which crops and varieties saw the most pollen applied in 2024? We thought that might be interesting for you to know as you consider bloom-season practices and management decisions that drive fruit-set in future years.
Cherry pollen is our biggest seller
Growers have found a wide variety of applications for cherry pollen, and it’s grown as a proportion of our sales consistenly since the 1990s. After a multi-year slump, Apple sales have slowly recovered in recent years, while pear volume has been fairly steady for decades.
Cherry Top 10
- Bing
- Coral Champagne
- Chelan
- Regina
- Rainier
- Early Robin
- Skeena
- Cristalina
- Tieton
- (tie) Benton, Sweetheart, Orondo Ruby
The 2024 bloom offered hope after a large, compressed, disappointing 2023 crop. Blossom timing, quantity, and weather were promising if not ideal in most regions and orchards. Electrostatic spray applications continued to accelerate – in older varieties like Bing, Chelan and Rainier as a proven tool to increase tonnage in moderately productive blocks; and in newer tough-to pollinate, short-ovule receptivity varieties including Regina, Early Robin and Orondo Ruby to help achieve more profitable production levels. As varieties proliferate, we’re learning more every year (along with growers and researchers) about how each responds to pollen applications. Stay tuned for more on that…
Apple Top 10
- Cosmic Crisp
- Pink Lady
- Honeycrisp
- Gala
- Granny Smith
- Minnieska
- Envy
- Sugarbee
- Jazz
- Modi
Cosmic Crisp accounted for more than 1/3 of our apple pollen sales in 2024 and about 80% of that was applied in liquid form with electrostatic sprayers. We hear from many that pollen is proving very valuable in managing cropload and the variety’s propensity to self-thin. Growers prioritized investment in supplemental pollen for other high-value varieties as well with a combined focus on production and quality. For standbys like Gala and Granny, applications are being made selectively where growers see volume potential.
Pear Top 6
- D’Anjou
- Bartlett
- Bosc
- Red Anjou
- Happi
- Warren
Pear producers had tough decisions to make this past spring. With a very light bloom in many orchards, some decided not to apply pollen at all while others opted to use pollen in an attempt to set every flower possible. Young blocks of the proprietary Happi variety are coming into production, and growers are having success applying pollen and assessing pollenizer bloom timing as their trees mature.
