Tree Fruit Harvest Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Fall harvest is in full swing for northwest apples and pears, and things are looking much better than last year.
Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, says so far, he’s hearing a lot of positive reports from growers …
DeVANEY … “You always want to be careful about counting your fruit before it’s finally picked. But things have been going much better this year than the past two years, as far as crop development and crop size.”
The weather, DeVaney says has been interesting the past couple of years …
DeVANEY … “You’ll recall that in 2021 we had challenges with really high summer heat that caused some fruit damage. In 2022 we had that really cool spring that resulted in a smaller apple crop that really did interfere with pollination.”
But this year …
DeVANEY … “The overall weather conditions were really favorable for the development of good, quality fruit, both for cherries and now for the apple and pear crops.”
DeVaney says, as for the numbers …
DeVANEY … “You’ll remember that last year we had a much smaller than normal apple crop. Only about 104-million boxes, which was much lower than the 120 to 130 range we’ve been seeing previously. So, to bump back to 134 this year on the apple crop is a big increase, but it’s really a return to our more normal range.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on this year’s tree fruit harvest.
