USApple Forecast
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. While it is true that an August apple forecast was not put out by the Washington State Tree Fruit Association this year, you may have seen one from the US Apple Association.
But those numbers, Michael Schadler, president of the Washington Apple Commission, says are pretty rough …
SCHADLER … “That number that they used was actually a USDA number, and if you look at the USDA methodology, which is a little bit unclear, a little bit ambiguous how they come up with it.”
Schadler is uncertain of their source …
SCHADLER … “It looks like USDA may have just taken a three-year average of the last three forecasts that they did and so, I mean, the number that came from USDA and then which was then used by USApple, most people don’t think that’s a very accurate number.”
Either way, Schadler says the crop is expected to be down a bit …
SCHADLER … “You know, anecdotally, when you’re going around the industry and talking to people, most people think the crops going to be down a little bit from last year. I mean, you kind of hear from 5% to 8% down.”
But that, Schadler says is manageable and maybe helpful …
SCHADLER … “We’re going to be helped too by the fact
that in the Eastern U.S., the crops down. So, Pennsylvania and Virginia both got hit real hard by an April frost.
Michigan and New York are also down a little bit. So, overall, the other producing states are down. That’s going to help support pricing a little bit.”
Again, that is Michael Schadler, president of the Washington Apple Commission.
