Apple Estimate Update Pt 2
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. The late season forecast update is out for Washington’s apple crop and shows that the early season estimate was off just a little bit.Washington State Tree Fruit Association President Jon DeVaney says the August estimate put us at nearly 125-million standard forty-pound boxes of fresh apples …
DeVANEY … “But, we’re down a little bit from our forecast, 118 million is still a good-sized apple crop. And, while there’s shortages on some shelves of some items, especially imported products, we do expect this to be an adequate supply of apples to keep customer shelves stocked throughout the year.”
As for the different varieties and the organic apple crop, DeVaney says …
DeVANEY … “Yes, about 13% of the crop this year is forecast to be organic. That continues to be a growing sector. We’re also continuing to see growth in some of the newer varieties. And that continued varietal diversification is really critical in our industry as growers are trying to find varieties and grow varieties that will suit as many consumer tastes as possible.”
And today, DeVaney says you should be able to find an apple you like …
DeVANEY … “There’s a lot of other newer varieties as well though, that “other” category, the catch-all variety for all those other new varieties being introduced is about 8% of the crop.”
DeVaney says in spite of the smaller harvest, we are seeing high-quality fruit and consumers should expect delicious Washington apples throughout 2022.