More On Apple Harvest

More On Apple Harvest

More On Apple Harvest. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.

Fall is a week away and of course that mean apple harvest is well underway. Todd Fryhover with the Washington Apple Commission says yields per acre are excellent as is the quality of the fruit and a record crop is not out of the question. He says the one downside might be labor.

FRYHOVER: No, we haven't had too many discussions of labor shortages but it's definitely tight. We do see a huge increase in H2A usage. I think there is considerably more participation in that program with quite a few more people coming in and being committed labor. So that's a real benefit to the industry. It takes a lot of pressure off this, "I hope they show up" kind of an attitude versus knowing you've got a stable staff there in place to help you through the entire harvest timing.

The H2A program is getting a lot of attention these days here in the northwest and hopefully will help get this crop picked. Fryhover says this is a really exciting time of year with lots of expectations.

FRYHOVER: Most of us that wake up early in the morning and we feel these high 30's - early 40's temperatures a couple of things come to mind - of course number one is it's apple season and we're interested in harvesting this great crop we have this year and the second thing is, "Oh my goodness, what a beautiful, beautiful place to spend the fall." These cold mornings and warm summer days, it's just the absolute optimum time of the year here in Washington State.

If you haven't picked up some fresh from the orchard apples, better get to your local farmer's market or orchard stand.

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

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