Apr 11, 2023

April apple holdings reported lower

Fresh and processing apple inventories are reported lower this April from the previous April, according to an April 11 report from the U.S. Apple Association.

While Washington, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Oregon tallied declines, Michigan reported increasing storage volume.

Fresh and processing apples experienced declines, according to the to USAppleTracker report.

The total number of apples in storage on was 71.3 million 42-pound bushels, 5.5% smaller than last April’s total of 75.5 million bushels and 7.2% less than the 76.9 million bushel 5-year average for that date, according to the USApple report. The April numbers compare to March’s 88.4 million bushels.

Fresh apple holdings in April totaled 50.2 million bushels, 5.7% less than the inventories reported for April 2022 and lower than the 54.4 million bushel April five-year average.

Processing holdings were 21.1 million bushels, 5.1% less than the previous year and smaller than the 22.5 million bushel April five-year average.

State gains, losses
Washington’s total storage declined from 62.3 million bushels in April 2022 to 56.6 million bushels in April 2023. This compares to the 63.9 million bushel five-year average.

Michigan again gained in apple holdings. In April, the state recorded 4.9 million bushels in total storage, up from 2.2 million bushels the previous year and higher than the 2.3 million bushel five-year average.

New York was 4.9 million bushels for 2022-23 compared to 5.3 million bushels the previous year and lower than the 5.4 million bushel five-year average.

Pennsylvania’s storage was 2.7 million bushels in 2022-23 compared to the previous year’s 3.1 million bushels and higher than the 2.6 million bushel five-year average.

Virginia storage is 927,229 bushels, down from 1.0 million bushels the previous year and lower than the 1.1 million bushel five-year average.

Oregon’s inventories were 483,507 bushels, lower than the 497,474 bushels during the previous period. That compares to the state’s 549,917 bushels five-year average.

California, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia and other states recorded storage declines while Massachusetts and West Virginia reported increases.

West Virginia storage jumped from 80,990 in 2022 to 162,018 in 2023. Idaho holdings plummeted from 77,832 bushels in 2022 to zero the following year.

The report captures more than 95% of the national storage capacity, according to USApple.