Fresh Apple Holdings Keep Pace with 2005
Regionally, fresh holdings in the Northeast were 9 percent higher than holdings last year and 6 percent higher than the five-year average. Southeast fresh holdings were 6 percent more than last year and 14 percent higher than the five-year average.
In the Midwest, fresh holdings were up 19 percent compared to 2005 and up 20 percent compared to the five-year average. Fresh-market apples in storage were 11 percent higher in the Southwest than last year but 3 percent lower than the five-year average. Northwest fresh holdings were 3 percent lower than last year but 3 percent higher than the five-year average.
Fresh Holdings by Variety
Dec. 1 fresh Red Delicious holdings were 32.4 million bushels, an 11 percent increase compared to the year earlier and 4 percent higher than the five-year average. Fresh Granny Smith holdings of 11.5 million bushels increased 3 percent compared to last year and were up 20 percent compared to the five-year average. Fresh Golden Delicious holdings of 9.4 million bushels were down 29 percent from the year before and decreased 23 percent compared to the five-year average. Fresh Fuji holdings of 9.4 million bushels were down 2 percent from the previous year but increased 6 percent compared to the five-year average. Fresh Gala holdings of 9.3 million bushels were down 8 percent from 2005 but increased 15 percent compared to the five-year average.
Fresh Empire holdings of 2.1 million bushels increased 16 percent compared to the previous year and were 5 percent more than the five-year average. Fresh McIntosh holdings of 2 million bushels were up 7 percent from the previous year but down 12 percent from the five-year average.
Total U.S. Holdings
Total U.S. holdings of fresh and processing apples on Dec. 1 were 134.3 million bushels, less than 78,000 bushels higher than last year’s holdings. The holdings were 3 percent higher than the five-year average.
Total holdings of fresh-market and processing apples in controlled atmosphere (CA) storage were 105.4 million bushels, a 1 percent decrease from 2005 but up 3 percent from the five-year average.
Fresh CA holdings were 73.9 million bushels, a 2 percent decrease from holdings last year but 4 percent more than the five-year average. Total processing apple holdings were 46.4 million bushels, up 1 percent from 2005 and 1 percent more than the five-year average.
Apple Movement
Just over 12 million bushels of fresh apples moved out of storage during November 2006, down 6 percent from the previous year’s pace. Nationwide movement of 16.2 million bushels of fresh and processing apples in November was 9 percent lower than 2005 movement of 17.8 million bushels.
Regionally, November 2006 movement of fresh-market apples in the Northeast was 6 percent more than in the year before and 7 percent higher than the five-year average.
Movement in the Southeast was 8 percent more than in 2005 and 20 percent higher than the five-year average. Movement in the Midwest was down 23 percent from 2005 and was 17 percent lower than the five-year average. In the Southwest, movement was 11 percent higher than 2005 and was 42 percent lower than the five-year average. In the Northwest, movement was 6 percent less than a year earlier and 8 percent less than November 2004.