Apple growers report good times

With fruit size up, crop volume adequate and the market showing signs of improvement, Northwest apple growers could be in for a good year.

 

 

"I'm optimistic," said Todd Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple Commission. "We have a more traditional volume of fruit, and sizing is better than last year."

 

 

"We're just generally optimistic about the apple crop this year," Washington State University Extension agent Tim Smith said. "There is no russet. We had no frost problems to speak of this year. The trees seem to be well loaded, but not overloaded. It's just been a good year."

 

 

Even the harvest-time weather has cooperated, Fryhover said, as growers this week neared the halfway point of Gala harvest. "We aren't seeing those 106-degree days," he said. "We're scheduled in the 80s and 90s, which is just perfect." And labor, while not overly abundant, is adequate, Smith said.

"The downturn in the economy helped our labor situation," Smith said. "When construction crashed, they knew where the jobs waiting for them, and they came back. ... There are a lot of roofers and framers who are harvesting and working in agriculture right now."

 

 

Fryhover said good crop movement of late is helping clear a backlog of apples that until recently threatened to lower prices and cool some markets.

 

 

"In general, the movement was spectacular the last three months," Fryhover said. "We should have good access to all markets right off the bat." What's left of last year's crop, he said, are the smaller sizes -- which shouldn't create a great deal of competition for the new, generally larger fruit now coming off. In general, Fryhover said, harvest timing is on pace with most years. "We're on time," he said. "Maybe a couple of days behind."

 

 

Growers were also optimistic about pears as they were wrapping up harvest on Bartletts and preparing to start harvesting winter pears. "It's a gorgeous crop," Smith said. "It's the nicest one we've had in years. "It all goes back to the nice mild weather we had in the spring," he said.