Raspberry Numbers Due
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. With the due date for Washington Red Raspberry harvest numbers coming up, that means we’ll soon have a better idea of what this year’s crop really looked like.
Gavin Willis, Executive Director of the Washington Red Raspberry Commission, says it sounds better than expected from what he’s hearing so far …
WILLIS … “And so, I had anticipated a little bit of a drop off, but it sounds like from conversations with growers, and we’ll have to wait until we get the final numbers in about a month or so here, but it sounds like we’re going to be in the same ballpark for production as we did last year. It seems like field production numbers are pretty similar to what we saw last year.”
Because Willis says of ideal growing conditions …
WILLIS … “So, keeping the fruit and the canopy dry is important, but a little bit of moisture helps keep everything growing well. And so, kind of the ideal conditions that we want is the light rain showers followed by sun the next day, so you get the benefits of the rain without the moisture hanging around.”
And this year …
WILLIS … “And that’s kind of what we saw for the most part this year through the growing season. We didn’t have kind of those sustained rainy periods of multiple days which cause a lot of problems. So, yeah, I think overall, good quality, and it sounds like good volume as well.”
Willis says final reports are due September 30 …
WILLIS … “So, I would think we should have an idea early October. And then we’ll usually release kind of official numbers at our annual meeting at the Lynden Ag Show.”
Again, that’s Gavin Willis, Executive Director at the Washington Red Raspberry Commission.
