08/15/08 Crunching The Numbers

Crunching the Numbers. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. You may have heard that the Washington apple crop looks like to will surpass last years number. But depending on what report you look at it might be up anywhere from 1 to 4%. And while those numbers are relatively small differences the important part is that they are up. Dan Kelly with the Growers Clearing House talks about the numbers. KELLY: The August 1st estimate came out, it is estimated the fresh apple crop will be 99.6-million. That compares to the current crop we are finishing right now is roughly 98.5 million. It slightly changes because the pack outs change a little bit here and there. Those numbers come from the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association and the Yakima Grower Shippers. At the same time you may have seen numbers from the USDA that talk about a 4% increase in Washington apple production. KELLY: The USDA crop includes processing so there potentially could be additional fruit. This last year we were short on the processing versus the fresh side and so the numbers that we deal with in Washington is primarily fresh. According to Kelly, other apple producing states have seen a downturn. KELLY: Our competition from some of the other states  the early reports are that New York which is the number two state in the country had some weather issues and so their crop looks to be down some. Michigan is the number three state and they've had some, not as much as New York, it certainly appears the national crop will be a little bit smaller. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.