07/28/06 Update on Pears

Update on Pears. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Several weeks ago the northwest pear crop took a beating when a massive hail storm took aim on orchards. It has taken some time to access the damage and get an idea of where the growers now stand. Normally a new crop estimate wouldn't be done at this time but due to the damage the Pear Bureau felt it would be prudent to update the numbers. Kevin Moffat is president of the Pear Bureau. MOFFAT: We are now estimating a crop at 16,438,000 boxes. The original crop estimate we had done at the annual meeting was 17,827,000 so we've reduced our estimate by almost 1.4 million or 8% off what we had originally estimated. If you look at 2 years ago crop, actual was about 16,793,000. It's more similar to 2 years ago. In addition to the updated crop estimate, Moffat said there has been some good nutritional news released. MOFFAT: We petitioned the FDA over the last 2 years to re-look at our fiber content and other nutrition content in pears because the FDA numbers were seemingly low compared to even other government numbers that were coming out from the USDA for example. And they came up with the 6 grams of fiber in pears up from 4 grams. And that is actually; it doesn't sound like a lot perhaps to you and me but from a marketing standpoint and a nutrition standpoint that's very big. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.