Apple Numbers

Apple Numbers

Apple Numbers. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Todd Fryhover, President of the Washington Apple Commission has a very big smile on his face stemming from the recent November estimate of 121-million boxes of apples from this year’s crop and they are still picking!

FRYHOVER: Washington couldn’t be in a better position. We hold 94% of all of the U.S. apples. Michigan and New York unfortunately have had their issues. Canada is down. Mexico is down. The EU is down. So demand is at an unprecedented level. In addition prices are firming up so if we had to hit a crop like this, this year couldn’t be better.

As you would expect, exports of Washington apples just gets better and better.

FRYHOVER: Export numbers are absolutely off the chart. It’s remarkable how well the export markets have performed with higher prices. Mexico and Canada are doing terrifically and the balance of the export markets are performing very well and were up 40% in comparison to last year at this time.

Fryhover has nothing but high praise for the northwest apple industry.

FRYHOVER: No one deserves it more than these growers do. There’s no question about that because when you look around our industry, we’re a bunch of families and to see that money go back into our hometowns and be spent locally to buy equipment and update our orchards and our facilities and be able to hire people to work for us, it can’t be a better thing for our industry.

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

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