Robert McMullin and his siblings, who own McMullin Orchards in Payson, one of the state's largest orchards, lost some cherries but had 70 percent of their crop insured. "It helps us pay the bills, it doesn't give us any profit," he said of the insurance money. "It does pay for part of the upkeep, the irrigation water and some of the overhead."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture anticipated Utah farmers would grow about 1,400 tons of sweet cherries in 2009. The vast majority of cherries are sold at fruit stands and grocery stores; some tart cherries are pitted and processed into maraschino cherries.

Farmers sell a pound of cherries to a grocery store for about $1.50 and pocket about 75 cents a pound after paying for packaging and shipping, McMullin said. Not only will the farmers' profits be down this year, but the livelihoods of others are affected, too.

"We normally have a payroll between $250,000 and $300,000 to the handling of those cherries," he said. "We hire about 175 people just to do the picking. And then we have another 50 that work in the processing plant."

E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com. TWITTER: laurahancock