Apple Harvest Update

Apple Harvest Update

Apple Harvest Update. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.

The 2015 apple harvest is off to a good start even with all the wildfires. Todd Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple Commission is pleased with the beginning of the season.

FRYHOVER: We are in full swing on harvest. We're through in some cases on Galas', it just depends on your elevation but Gala harvest is in earnest. Golden's are being harvested, there's some Honey Crips that are being harvested as well and then depending on the elevation, there's some other varieties, Granny's and some Red's that are being put in the bin and everybody's really excited. It looks like we've got a great crop this year in 2015.

The numbers this year will be down from last year's record harvest but that might reflect in a little better price. Another factor this year is sizing.

FRYHOVER: Sizing is a little bit down compared to last year in particular because the sizing was one to two sizes larges than normal. So we're down about a half a size which is not necessarily a bad thing. You know smaller apples have more export opportunity, smaller apples have a tendency to store better so it's not necessarily a bad thing to have a slightly smaller sizing.

The big question this year has been labor.

FRYHOVER: Labor continues to be tight. Not only is labor tight but the harvest window is shrinking. There seems to be more varieties coming off at the same time. Elevation doesn't seem to be playing as significant a role as it has in the past so there's more need currently for pickers than there has been in the past

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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