Michigan’s cherry producers have approved a 5-year extension of an assessment to fund cherry promotional efforts.

By a vote of 184-36, growers supported continuance of a $10 per ton assessment on sweet and tart cherries and $5 per ton for cherries sold for juice. The “yes” votes represented 120,216,082 pounds of cherries or 86 percent of production volume. The “no” votes represented 19,893,472 pounds.

To renew the program, there must be support from more than 50 percent of the voting producers representing more than 50 percent of the pounds sold.