Feb 7, 2012
Surveys measure tree fruit, grape acreage in Washington state

According to the Washington Tree Fruit Acreage Report released last year, total apple acreage in Washington state fell from 172,986 acres in 2006 to 167,489 acres in 2011.

That falloff might be a little bit deceptive, however, said Dan Kelly, assistant manager of the Washington Growers Clearing House Association, which tabulates product prices for about 2,000 tree fruit growers in Washington state. More growers participated last year than in previous surveys. Combine that with better technology, and the 2011 survey was the most accurate and complete to date, he said.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducted the tree fruit survey, as well as a grape survey, and compiled the acreage reports as part of the 2011 Grape and Tree Fruit Acreage Inventory by Variety Study. The 2011 version marked the sixth time such a survey has been conducted in the state, with previous surveys held in 1948-49, 1986, 1993, 2001 and 2006, according to the tree fruit report.

David Knopf, director of NASS’ Washington Field Office in Olympia, said the 2011 survey responses were more comprehensive than in 2006. The data – collected through the mail, through telephone calls and through farm visits for larger operations – is sound. The survey was funded by a federal specialty crop block grant, along with some matching funds from industry sources, he said.

The clearing house partnered with the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers (WAWGG) to get the block grant. Such surveys are expensive and time-consuming, so it saved money for the state’s grape and tree fruit industries to partner on this one, said Vicky Scharlau, executive director of WAWGG.

Kelly would like to see the studies conducted more frequently than every five years or so, but money hasn’t been available to do that, he said.

There were no huge surprises in the tree fruit report, Kelly said, but it will give growers solid data to utilize when they make future planting decisions. If you’re a grower and you want to know what prices you might get for your fruit, it helps to know which varieties are expanding and which are shrinking, he said.

“The industry needs this information to be able to assess where they’re at and where they need to be headed,” Knopf said.
For the first time, respondents were asked to give the number of their certified organic acres, as well as their acres in transition to organic. Respondents also were asked to give total acres certified in a food safety/GAP program, according to the 2011 report.

The report broke down tree fruit plantings by variety, county, region and other factors. Here are a few tidbits: For apple varieties, Red Delicious led the way in acreage, with 43,379 – but that’s much less than the 121,175 acres in planted in 1986. Other large 2011 acreages included Gala (32,780), Fuji (27,683), Granny Smith (18,585) and Golden Delicious (14,852).

There were 38,115 sweet cherry acres in Washington state in 2011. The top varieties were Bing (16,509 acres), Sweetheart (6,569 acres) and Rainier (4,003 acres). There were 22,008 acres of pears in the state, of which 12,261 acres were winter pears and 9,747 acres were Bartlett pears. There were 2,319 acres of peaches (the leading variety was Rich Lady, at 260 acres), 1,241 acres of apricots, 1,463 acres of nectarines and 541 acres of prunes and plums, according to the tree fruit report.

Grapes

There weren’t any big surprises in the 2011 Washington Vineyard Acreage Report, either. Overall acreage continues to trend upward, but there weren’t any huge jumps – which is good, Scharlau said.

“We like planned growth,” she said.

According to the report, there were 43,849 acres of wine grapes in the state last year; 18,851 of those were white varieties. The leading white variety was Chardonnay (7,654 acres), followed by Riesling (6,320 acres).

There were 24,998 acres of red varieties. The leading red variety was Cabernet Sauvignon (10,293 acres), followed by Merlot (8,235 acres) and Syrah (3,103 acres), according to the report.

By Matt Milkovich, Managing Editor




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