Apple holdings remain high

The U.S. Apple Association said in its January report that U.S. fresh apple holdings decreased slightly to 112.2 million bushels from the December figure of 124.4 million bushels.

While the total fresh holdings are down, USApple said January's figure is still up 33% over this time last year.

Processing apple holdings also dropped slightly in January, down to 44 million bushels from 48.5 million bushels in December. USApple said the 44 million bushels is still 20% higher than the same time last year and 15% higher than the five-year average for January.

As of USApple’s January report, Washington leads the country with 124,799,048 42-pound bushels of fresh and processing apples, which is up from 91,971,256 42-pound bushels this time last year and still up over the five-year average of 102,522,973 42-pound bushels.

New York’s fresh and processing holdings for January stand at 10,965,168 42-pound bushels, which is up from 8,786,042 42-pound bushels from the same time last year and higher than the five-year average for January of 10,009,682 42-pound bushels.

Michigan’s holdings for fresh and processing apples stand at 10,075,800 42-pound bushels, which is up from 9,997,000 42-pound bushels for January 2023 and higher than the five-year average of 7,450,000 42-pound bushels.

Varieties of note include Honeycrisp, with 23,765,215 42-pound bushels in fresh and processing holdings, which is up from last year’s figure of 14,520,725 42-pound bushels at this time last year and up from the five-year average of 15,328,337 42-pound bushels.

Gala’s fresh and processing holdings stand at 22,289,169 42-pound bushels, up from 21,199,127 42-pound bushels for the same time last year. This year’s holdings is slightly lower than the variety's five-year average of 22,533,647 42-pound bushels.

Red delicious fresh and processing holdings stand at 22,514,480 42-pound bushels, which is up from last year’s figure of 15,841,040 42-pound bushels and near the variety's five-year average of 22,417,299 42-pound bushels.

Cosmic Crisp continues to grow with more than 8,600,952 42-pound bushels in fresh and processing, which is up from last year’s figure of 6,710,609 42-pound bushels. The five-year average for Cosmic Crisp is 2,457,610 42-pound bushels.

Related: U.S. Apple Association's December report — Fresh apple holdings up by 33% year over year