Apple Estimates 2025 Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. Estimates for this year’s Washington apple crop are in at about 142-million 40-pound boxes, which is at or at least near a record.
But, Washington State Tree Fruit Association president, Jon DeVaney says it hasn’t come without some challenges …
DeVANEY-6 = 10 … “There was some worry because we, you know, are in a declared drought situation in Washington state again this year and some growers did see interruptions to their water supply at some period.”
But that, DeVaney says has been limited …
DeVANEY-7 = 14 … “What we’re hearing from our members is that conditions overall have been favorable, that they’ve gotten good quality and sizing on their fruit and had a good set of the number of apples on the trees. So, right now there’s a lot of fruit out there.”
So, DeVaney says things to watch moving forward …
DeVANEY-8 = 17 … “What they’re going to be looking at, as growers, here for the next couple of months is what their labor supply looks like, what the market conditions look like, how the fruit continues to size and get color development to determine how much will be economically and practically possible to pick.”
That, DeVaney says should determine if we set a new record or not …
DeVANEY-9 = 14 … “That number could come down a little bit with such a large crop, but it is good news given the water shortfalls that we’ve seen and concerns about labor to start with a crop that appears to be a really good quality, good size, and abundance.”
Again, that’s Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association.
