Michigan apple grower-shippers and officials expect a high-quality crop that should be significantly larger than volume in recent years — and maybe a record-breaker.
The latest forecast pegs the crop at about 23.5 million bushels, though some growers are saying it could be as high as 25 million bushels, said Denise Donohue, executive director of the Michigan Apple Commission, Lansing.
The 5-year average for the Michigan apple crop is 19.3 million bushels, Donohue said.
“The best thing I’ve heard from growers is this seems like the best crop they’ve seen in years and years,” she said. “We’re getting the rainfall we need, and the fruit is plumping up real nice.”
Barry Winkel, general manager of Greg Orchards & Produce Inc., Benton Harbor, Mich., agreed.
“Thinning went well, we should have good-sized fruit,” he said. “We’re going to be able to fill our storages and bulk boxes, which we haven’t done for several years.”
The 2009 crop will likely wind up being the largest fresh crop ever out of Michigan, and possibly the biggest ever overall, said Scott Swindeman, vice president and sales manager of Applewood Orchards Inc., Deerfield, Mich.
Not only will there be a lot of apples to sell, Swindeman said — they’ll be the right kind of apples.
“Many of the progressive growers have reinvested in our businesses, added new varieties, and all those investments are coming into production,” he said. “We’ve got a crop coming in that’s made up of the right stuff.”
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Winkel said he expects good demand for Michigan apples when harvest begins.
“Customers have already started calling,” he said July 14.
Donohue, however, is taking a more guarded approach. She hopes the U.S. Department of Agriculture will buy surplus 2008 apples to take pressure off markets heading into the late summer and fall harvests.
Swindeman said he was “cautiously optimistic” heading into the new season.
“We’ll be doing our best to make sure we’re promoting heavily for September and October, building the momentum we’re going to need to market it,” he said.
On July 14, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported prices of $16-18 for carton tray packs of red delicious 72-100s from Washington, down from $24-26 last year at the same time.
Michigan shippers will look more to Latin America and other export markets to move this year’s big crop, Donohue said.
The first varieties out of the gate, paula reds and ginger golds, would likely begin shipping Aug. 15-20, Donohue said.
For Greg Orchards, following paulas and gingers, red and golden delicious will be the next varieties to ship, in September, Winkel said.
Galas were slated to begin shipping about Sept. 3-4 for Applewood Orchards, with jonagolds and jonathans expected to begin in mid-September and fujis, honeycrisps, empires and other varieties to follow later, Swindeman said.