Pear Estimate Update Pt 2

From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. The final pears are moving from the orchard to the warehouse, but we’re probably still a few weeks away from knowing what the final production numbers are.

But so far, Kevin Moffitt, President of Pear Bureau Northwest, says things are looking pretty good …

MOFFITT … “That side of it has been good. The demand has been good and healthy and the pricing has started out good pricing for the FOB prices. Yeah, it’s fairly optimistic in the beginning of the season here and we’ve had some pretty healthy shipping weeks, especially in the Bartletts.”

And that, Moffitt says will transition in the weeks ahead …

MOFFITT … “The next five weeks are usually, traditionally very strong weeks for Bartletts. So, we will expect to see that continue and then Anjou’s will start picking up here in the next couple of weeks.”

Moffitt says you should see plenty of pears in the stores

very soon …

MOFFITT … “I would say domestically, it’s been pretty good. Exports are still a challenge. The dollars very strong and Europe had some good-sized pear crops so they’ll be competing with us in a lot of markets like the Middle East and Asia and even some in Latin America.”

But bottom line? …

MOFFITT … “But all and all, the size of this crop is conducive to probably some pretty good returns. And I think we’re going to move through it very well and we’ll have fruit for the retailer all season long and into the late spring and summer. And I’m expecting some good things this year.”

Moffitt says so far, demand has been very good so they expect that to continue into the new year.