President Biden visits Northern Michigan cherry farm, talks climate change

President Joe Biden took a tour of a northern Michigan cherry orchard today.

At Kings Orchard in Central Lake, Biden met with several Michigan politicians including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow.

But the real reason for the visit was to get some northern Michigan was “Cherry pie,”  Biden joked.

The Kings told the president how climate change was hurting their business.

They expect to only yield only 15 percent of their tart and 25 percent of their sweet cherries this year due to drought and freezing conditions.

During the tour, Biden spoke with Juliette King McAvoy, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Kings Orchard.

She told the president how climate change was impacting their family business.

“We’d had four crop failures. That is very alarming to us. There’s not many business models that can withstand zero income every four or five years,” she said.

The family says the president seemed receptive to those concerns, as well as their wish to create a path to citizenship for their pickers , who have worked on the farm for over 30 years.

Biden spoke with some visitors and left with an armload of cherry pies.