Sep 4, 2012
2012 apple crop down 10 percent from last year

The size of the 2012 U.S. apple crop will be 202.1 million bushels, according to the U.S. Apple Association (USApple). That estimate was given during the association’s annual Apple Crop Outlook and Marketing Conference held Aug. 16-17 in Chicago.

USApple’s 2012 estimate is down 10 percent from last year’s crop, but is higher than USDA’s 2012 estimate of 192 million bushels. Both estimates are smaller than the five-year average.

East

USApple estimated the Eastern crop to be 37.3 million bushels, down 33 percent from last year and down 35 percent from the five-year average, said Phil Glaize, owner of Glaize Orchards, Winchester, Va.

New York is expected to be down 52 percent, with a total crop of 14 million bushels.

“There was some hail damage,” Glaize said. “New York experienced the freeze loss that hit the Great Lakes region so hard.”

In the southern regions of the East, the crop fared better.

“We’re picking about two weeks ahead of any time anyone can remember,” Glaize said. “Even New York said they were about a week ahead of any time in history.”

Pennsylvania expects a crop of 11million bushels, and is expected to have a 1 percent increase over last year, although that number is 3 percent lower than the five-year average.

Hardest hit by the spring freezes was North Carolina. The 850,000 bushels the state is predicted to harvest this season is down 75 percent from last year.

Still, Glaize is optimistic about the Eastern crop.

“Recent rains will help size the crop,” he said. “We had a dry July, but there are apples, and they will be good apples.”

How long will the crop last? Glaize couldn’t answer that question. Growers will have to wait and see, he said.

Glaize mentioned that Eastern growers are planting more trees.

“New plantings are going in, but mostly for fresh sales,” he said. “Processing acreage seems to be going down, but after this tough season perhaps it will start to go up again next year.”

Midwest

Growers in the Midwest were hit especially hard by the combination of an early spring and a late freeze that wiped out much of the crop, said Mike Rothwell, president of BelleHarvest Sales, Belding, Mich. The total crop for the Midwest is estimated at 7 million bushels, down 76 percent from last year and 72 percent below the five-year average.

Michigan was hit hardest, with a predicted crop of 3.5 million bushels. That is 85 percent lower than last year and 82 percent below the five-year average. Varieties that took the brunt of the frost were the earlier cultivars and some of the harder-to-grow varieties like Honeycrisp. Gala seems to have done the best, Rothwell said.

Ohio is down 40 percent, with 957,000 bushels. Wisconsin is down 61 percent, with 476,000 bushels.

The lone bright spot for the Midwest is Missouri, Rothwell said. Due to new acreage, the Show Me state is up 127 percent over last year with 810,000 bushels.

Rothwell said that the quality of the crop varies depending on where you are. Some apples are clean, while others show hail or frost damage.

“One thing is for sure,” he said. “This year, every apple has value. In some years, we may have left some fruit on the tree. I think this year every apple will probably come off the trees.”

West

What should have been a bumper crop for the Western region this season was hampered by hail, said Dan Kelly, assistant manager of Washington Growers Clearing House, Wenatchee, Wash.

Still, the region is expected to produce 157 million bushels of apples this season, good for a 13 percent increase over last season, and 12 percent above the five-year average.

Washington state predicted a crop of 145 million bushels, good for a 13 percent increase over last season. The Washington hail damage was the greatest in the lower to middle Yakima Valley and in parts of the Columbia Basin, resulting in a 20 percent loss, Kelly said.

“We’re still going to have a very big crop of great-looking fruit,” he said.

Utah was the only Western state to predict a loss over last season. Growers there expect 381,000 bushels, down 16 percent from last year, due to a heavy freeze.

Canada

Canada is expected to produce 14.1 million bushels of apples this year, said Dan Werden, from the Norfolk Fruit Growers Association in Ontario, Canada. The country will be down 32.6 percent from last season and down 30.7 percent from the five-year average.

“This will be the smallest crop in five years,” Werden said. “Ontario got hit the hardest with a freeze. The crop is down 87.2 percent, and what is left is getting hit hard now by heavy insect pressure. It is still unknown how many apples will really be there when we go to pick them.”

By Derrek Sigler, Assistant Editor




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