Washington apples

The apple harvest in Washington has defied a frost-riddled spring and early predictions of a poor season; the latest forecast pegged the state’s production volume at 109m cartons, a record high.

Consecutive estimates of the US apple-producing giant’s season scaled up all year, from an initial estimate of 99m cartons, to an August estimate of 101m.

The latest forecast was based on a review of apples in storage on 1 November, and set production growth at about 10.4 per cent over last year’s 98.7m-carton packout and beating the 2004 record of 105m cartons, according to the Yakima Herald.

Manager of the Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association Keith Mathews credited favourable weather during the harvest period for the high volume.

“If the weather is really good, the apples can grow near harvest time a size every four to five days. That is part of what I think happened.”

The industry is prepared to handle the large volume of fruit, according to the Washington Apple Commission (WAC). Chairman Cragg Gilbert said the WAC had been granted extra government funding for international marketing efforts in expectation of a good season.

“We had ideal weather and good harvest conditions. Everything that I know about got picked on time. It is one of the best crops the consumer has seen for quite a while,” he added.

The production growth was led by the Granny Smith variety at 15.5m cartons or 15 per cent over the August estimate, followed by Fuji at 14.4m cartons (up 10 per cent), Galas at 20.1m cartons (up 6.4 per cent) and Red Delicious at 32.9m cartons (up 6 per cent).

Washington’s apple-producing competitors in the US states of New York and Michigan had mediocre seasons, hit hard by frost and hail earlier in the season.