Washington’s Cherry Crop Is Down 23%. This Grower Can Work All Season, but Social Security Counts Net Earnings, Not Hours.

Washington cherry growers are bringing in a much smaller crop this year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts 200,000 tons of sweet cherries, down about 23% from 261,000 tons in 2025. A smaller crop is not automatically a bad financial year. Growers hope tighter supplies can support better prices after last season’s large crop squeezed returns. But weather, labor, packing and freight costs can still leave an individual orchard with very different math.

Picture a hypothetical Yakima Valley grower in her early sixties. She prunes, sprays, drives equipment and works alongside the picking crew. By the end of the season, fruit has moved through the packing house and checks have come in. Then she totals the expenses. If the farm finishes the year with a loss, Social Security does not measure how many hours she spent in the orchard or how much fruit she sold. For a self-employed farmer, it generally looks to net earnings.

A Full Season Can Produce Very Little Social Security Earnings

Social Security calculates net earnings from self-employment using business income after allowable expenses and adjustments. That is very different from an employee whose covered wages appear directly on a W-2. For a farmer, a year of substantial gross sales can therefore produce little or no net self-employment earnings after the cost of producing the crop. That creates two separate questions.

Social Security credits determine eligibility for benefits. In 2026, a worker earns one credit for each $1,890 of covered earnings and can earn no more than four in a year. The full four require $7,560. Someone who already has the 40 credits generally needed for retirement does not get a larger benefit simply by accumulating more credits. Benefit size is based instead on covered earnings over the worker’s career.

For a grower still building eligibility, however, a loss year can interrupt the accumulation of credits. And for someone with gaps or lower years in her earnings history, a season that produces little covered income may also miss an opportunity to strengthen the record used to calculate her eventual benefit.

Farmers Have an Unusual Option in a Bad Year

The tax code recognizes that farm income can swing sharply from one season to another. Eligible farmers with a loss or small profit can use the farm optional method to calculate net earnings from self-employment. Instead of relying entirely on the farm’s actual net profit, the method can allow a farmer to report an amount based on gross farm income.

That can generate Social Security credits in a year when the regular method would produce few or none. There is a tradeoff. Using the optional method can increase self-employment tax because the farmer is choosing to report covered self-employment earnings.

The decision therefore is not simply “take the credits.” It is whether paying additional Social Security and Medicare tax makes sense for her particular earnings record. Importantly, filing the original return does not necessarily close the door. IRS instructions allow taxpayers to change between the regular and optional methods after filing by amending the return.

Before the Orchard Books Close

For a grower finishing a difficult season, three numbers deserve attention:

1. Actual net farm profit or loss. Gross cherry sales do not tell her what Social Security will ultimately count.
2. Her existing Social Security credits and earnings record. Someone already comfortably past 40 credits has a different decision from a grower still trying to qualify.
3. The cost of using the farm optional method. Preserving covered earnings can mean paying more self-employment tax now.

Once the eligibility question is settled, the next call is when to actually claim, and we boiled the 62 versus 67 versus 70 math down to a single page in a free guide here. Washington can produce fewer cherries in a difficult year. Social Security is looking at something different: what the grower has left after producing them.

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