Fruit Industry Still Doing Well
Fruit Industry Still Doing Well. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.
Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association is very optimistic about the 2015 tree fruit crop even though there have been some challenges this year from labor issues to Mother Nature. He says there’s still time to see significant changes.
DEVANEY: There’s always a lot of interest in exactly how big the cropping going to be - at this point in the year there’s still a lot of room for changes. You can still get a lot of movement in fruit sizing later in the season which can significantly adjust the crop size depending on what happens so right now there’s a lot of concern but there’s not a lot of hard knowledge.
Still it has been challenging.
DEVANEY: It’s hard to imagine this next year being more challenging than the years we are coming off of. With so many problems on the international trade front, on the port situation, with a large crop everywhere and difficulty in getting product moved through the international trade channels it’s been a very challenging year for everyone in the fruit industry particularly apples and pears.
DeVaney says at least those political issues are somewhat predictable whereas the weather isn’t.
DEVANEY: The State of Washington has provided some drought assistance to help with temporary transfers of water rights and short-term wells and conveyances to make sure that the water that is available is getting to those who need it the most and is allocated in a ways that helps as many people as possible through the drought
That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.
