Apple Harvest Gets Going

Apple Harvest Gets Going. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

It’s official...the 2012 apple harvest is underway.

DOUGLAS: Yeah we’re just getting started. We’re picking a few early golden type variety and then we started Gala’s this week so yeah, we’re just getting started.

That’s David Douglas with Douglas Fruit who says this should be a good harvest this year.

DOUGLAS: We’re cautiously optimistic. We got a lot of hail around the state as you’re probably aware but still have a relatively large apple crop. We’ve got a reduced national apple crop due to the frost in the midwest and northeast and parts of Canada so as far as marketing and sales opportunities we should be selling into hopefully a strong market. Fruit quality for the fruit that hasn’t been hailed on looks good. Fruit size looks good.

The forecast is calling for some cooler temperatures in the next couple of weeks which Douglas says should help with the start of the harvest. There is still a little bit of fruit left to move from the 2011 crop but that is pretty normal at this time of year.

DOUGLAS: Any more it’s a 12 plus month marketing cycle for these crops. There’s always a few apples that carry over into the new crop. How many boxes are left to ship on the ’11 crop, I’d have to look. Labor is still the unknown. Will we have enough people to pick it in the condition that we want it picked in but if we can get it all harvested, it should be a good year.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.