10/17/08 Better Than Halfway

Better Than Halfway. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. The Washington State apple crop is on its way to completion and this year's crop look pretty good according to the Apple Commission's Todd Fryhover. FRYHOVER: The production is going on like crazy. This is probably  this and next week are two of the busiest weeks of the year. We're in full harvest of Red Delicious. We're also harvesting Granny Smith in due diligence with Fuji and some of the later varieties to come next week and the week after. I have already had some excellent Fuji's and HoneyCrisp that were very flavorful. Fryhover says everyone is pleased. FRYHOVER: With the Red Delicious right now harvest is probably somewhere in that 50% complete. The fruit coloration is fantastic. There have been a few shape issues with the cold spring that we had but depending on where that's at I think it's a minor issue. After that long cool spring we have been seeing some great weather and Fryhover says it has really helped. FRYHOVER: The weather has been absolutely terrific. I was out yesterday and the sun was shining and it was just warm and delightful and people were busy and happy and the fruit looked great. It's just the perfect time to be in Washington. We'll talk more tomorrow about numbers and pickers. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.