US Washington apples sorted

The US Apple Association has revealed a country-wide forecast of just over 248.2m boxes of apples for 2017, a drop of 8 per cent year-on-year.

The forecast, which was revealed at the Apple Crop Outlook and Marketing Conference in Chicago last week, was slightly lower than the USDA forecast made earlier in the month that pegged the crop at 248.6m boxes, Growing Produce reported.

Western states are expected to produce around 170m boxes, the majority coming from Washington state, although volumes there are set to fall 8 per cent, according to the US Apple Association.

Midwest states are set to produce 24m boxes, down 23 per cent on 2016, while Eastern states should produce 55m boxes, up 6 per cent.