Aug 30, 2012

Apple growers suggest customers come early this year

Local apple growers are urging residents and visitors to come early this year if they want to enjoy the limited crop of fresh apples before they’re gone.

Warm weather in late winter followed by freezing spring temperatures took a heavy toll on a pair of Sauk County, Wis.’s apple producers.

“We’re so used to having a huge amount of apples that this year when we out in the orchard we were like, ‘Where are they this year?’” said Betty Thiessen, who owns Ski-Hi Fruit Farm south of Baraboo.

The state’s apple crop this year is expected to be around 20 million tons of apples, down more than 60 percent from last year’s crop of 51.4 million tons, according to estimates from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Baraboo News Republic

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