Pear Estimates 2023-24 Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. With pear harvest underway throughout the Northwest, Pear Bureau Northwest is out with the first estimates for the 2023-24 crop.
Pear Bureau’s Marketing and Communications Director, Jim Morris says growers seem pretty pleased with how things are looking so far …
MORRIS … “Yeah, looking pretty good. We’re about 15.2-million boxes this year, which is on par with, if you look at the past four years, we’re like right in there. So, it’s a good size crop, quality looks good. We’re getting a nice range of sizes. We’ll have larger fruit, but also some smaller fruit that goes well in the popular pouch bags that a lot of consumers enjoy. So, yeah, I think it’s shaping up to be a nice looking crop.”
Morris says harvest looks to be on schedule and shouldn’t run into late October …
MORRIS … “We won’t go that late. We will have some pick dates up through probably mid-October, but the majority of it will be wrapped by the end of this month and then some into early October.”
And for consumers, Morris says the early varieties are in the stores now …
MORRIS … “Yeah, we’re already seeing USA Pears, Bartletts and Starkrimsons already in store. I heard somebody mentioning the other day that they might have already seen a winter pear in store, but I’m not sure. But maybe we’re starting to see some winter pears showing up too.”
Listen tomorrow for more on the Northwest pear harvest and what to expect in the weeks and months ahead.
