08/01/08 Looking Ahead At The Apple Crop

Looking Ahead at the Apple Crop. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. This year's apple crop seems to be smaller in size than in years past and there has been a bit of early hail damage in some local areas. But then the two other major apple producing states, Michigan and New York, have had some significant hail and some frost damage. According to Dave Carlson with the Washington Apple Commission, it's not the crop it could have been. CARLSON: The overall U.S. crop is probably not what it could have been this year. And then our friends north of the border up there in British Columbia have had some hail as well as some frost damage and reduction in their crop also. The good news is the export market remains strong. CARLSON: You know the demand overseas is just gigantic. Two weeks ago I was back in Washington DC for a meeting, the USDA guys pointed out the fact that in the last 6 years the folks that have enough income level now to eat better than subsistence and buy themselves a better diet has increased in the last 6 years and there's 1-billion new consumers worldwide that are able to buy some of these food products that are being exported out of the state of Washington. Another issue is the lateness of the crop. CARLSON: You know we have these late harvest varieties like Cripps Pink and some of the Granny Smith's and some of the Fuji's that in past years if you get into late October or early November for harvest, sometimes we get into these extended cold spells that run the temperature below freezing for 3 or 4 days and that can ruin the fruit. We'll be keeping our eye on the apple crop. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.