Checking On Apples

Checking On Apples. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Dan Kelly with the Washington Growers Clearing House has never seen a year like this one, from a lot of perspectives.

KELLY: We’ve got potentially the largest apple crop we’ve ever had. We’ve got good quality, good sizes, and we’ve set a record in shipments through the end of October. Primarily this is due to the shortage of fruit in the midwest and east coast of the United States, shortage in Canada and Mexico and Europe. There’s a shortage over there.

Shipments of Washington apples are up considerably.

KELLY: We’re up 40% on our export shipments over last year at the same time. The demand hasn’t reduced any but the supply has definitely reduced with the...you know Michigan basically had no crop and New York is going to have about 40% of a crop. That’s a pretty good chunk of fruit for the east side of the world. They don’t ship much stuff out here.

Markets like the east coast tend to sell their local products before buying from Washington or elsewhere. This year they are needing Washington exports now.

KELLY: In Canada what’s happened is they’ve had the same freeze. The same kind of thing that the midwest and they don’t have a lot of crop there and we’re kind of the lonesome stranger standing out there with the fruit.

A crop update will be available late tonight or tomorrow and we will update you more when we get the information.

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