Fruit Industry Headlines

Some Fruit Industry Headlines. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Every day there are numerous stories in the fruit industry that we never get around to talking about. I wanted to take a minute and briefly touch on a few that have caught my attention.

With good fruit crops coming back to the eastern United States after a disastrous year in 2012, fruit production nationwide should be somewhat better than average. The U.S. apple crop is expected to come in at just under 251 million bushels, well up from 198.7 million last year and about 20 million bushels above average.

Among the 20 genetically modified crops now awaiting USDA approval, two stand out -- a new potato and an apple. While most of the biotech crops being evaluated will be fed to livestock or crushed for biofuel feedstock, the potato and apple are intended for human consumption, sparking keen interest among both the farmers who will grow them and the public who will eat them.

U.S. export of apples and pears to Europe has been declining for years and tougher standards there could dry up the market after the end of the year, industry representatives say. The European Union is in the process of lowering acceptable maximum residue levels (MRLs) of a scald-controlling agent on apples and pears to the point that all imports and even apples grown in their own countries will be affected.

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