Apples Are A Hot Item

Apples Are A Hot Item. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

With the cold temperatures and then drought on top of it this years apple crop in Michigan and on the east coast is very small. The same is true for the apple crops in Canada and Mexico so where does that leave us here in the pacific Northwest? What has happened is the demand for Washington apples has really increased and the fortunate thing is that we are expecting a very good crop this year. Record breaking according to some folks. Dan Kelly with the Growers Clearinghouse says the increased demand should not affect local prices.

KELLY: Prices, I’ve heard, back east are much higher than what we’re asking for price on whatever fruit they have available. But price increase would be probably the only negative in the retail environment. The FOB price right now is above the last few years and at the end of the day they should come out ok on this deal. And so we are still waiting to see how big the crop really is.

The estimate back in August was for 109-million boxes.

KELLY: Normally we will exceed that estimate and this year there’s easily going to be more than what the estimate is.

Speculations are ranging around 112 to 118 million boxes which would definitely be a big crop for the apple industry and help supply the rest of the U.S.

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