Intense summer heat takes toll on Bear Lake raspberry crop ahead of Raspberry Days

LAKETOWN, Utah (KSL) — As Garden City prepares for Raspberry Days this weekend, one of the festival’s signature attractions will be in short supply.

A lack of winter snow followed by intense summer heat has devastated much of the Bear Lake raspberry crop, leaving some growers with little to no harvest this year.

The losses have been heartbreaking for longtime grower Silvia Earley. Harvest season typically begins in late July, and at first glance, her raspberry fields appeared promising.

“I guess I got too excited,” Earley said.

The green plants gave her hope, but as the fruit developed, many of the vines dried up.

“I cannot believe it because I was ready to pick — and it’s just toast,” she said. Despite a difficult winter, Earley remained optimistic. But this year, she says the heat was simply too much.

“You know, it’s just way too hot. This year has been way, way too hot,” she said. “And all this heat on the plant, they just couldn’t take it.”

Earley, who moved to the area from Honduras and began growing raspberries in 2000, said she has seen challenging seasons before. However, she described this year as the worst she’s experienced.

“I’ll have one little patch here and there, but to have the whole patch burnt now, this is the worst year,” she said.

The few raspberries that survived have mostly gone to tourists to come to pick their own fruit— taking what little they can find.

“The kids are smart. They call it raspberry-hunting,” Earley said with a laugh.

Raspberry Days will continue as planned this weekend, but Earley will not be selling berries at the festival. She said bringing in fruit from outside the area would go against the spirit of what she promotes.

“I can buy Oregon raspberries, but I promote Bear Lake raspberries, so for me, I can’t do that,” she said.

The area’s only other remaining commercial raspberry grower, Chad’s Raspberry Kitchen, has also reported smaller yields this season. The business is using what fruit it has for products such as jams, salsa and raspberry shakes at its store and fast-food restaurant.

Earley does have some raspberries growing in a greenhouse and expects to harvest and sell them later. However, they will not be ready in time for Raspberry Days.

Even after losing much of this year’s crop, Earley says she plans to keep farming and hopes conditions improve next season.

“I think only another farmer will understand the love that we put in every plant,” she said.