Apple crop could produce record numbers

Out of the gloom of a long and harsh spring frost season has come a record-setting apple crop.

The Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association reported Thursday the nation's largest apple-producing state expects to have a crop for fresh sale of nearly 109 million boxes.

Should the state's warehouses pack and sell that many apples, the crop will outstrip the existing record of 105 million boxes from the 2004 crop.

The projected crop, based on a review of fruit in storage on Nov. 1, is about 8 million boxes larger than the August estimate.

The industry had feared that spring frost losses would reduce the crop to well below last year's 99 million-box crop.

Keith Mathews, manager of the growers-shippers association, said he believes good harvest weather caused the increase.

"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," Mathews said.

An industry standard suggests that if individual apples gain one fruit size, the overall crop will increase by 10 percent.

Cragg Gilbert, a Yakima grower-packer and chairman of the Washington Apple Commission, said the larger crop is one the industry is prepared to market successfully.

He said the commission has added some additional funding to its overseas promotion programs in expectation of a larger crop that is high in quality.

"We had ideal weather and good harvest condi-tions. 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 said a delay in crop development during the fall, a result of the cool spring, helped improve the fruit's condition.

Another factor that benefits the state's growers is smaller crops in competing states. Both Michigan and New York suffered losses due to hail storms that will decrease volumes well below their average of about 17 million to 18 million boxes.

Mathews estimated those two producing areas will be out of fruit by early next year, allowing Washington to fill more of the market.

The Yakima growing district added the most to the estimated crop increase. Yakima is projected to have 69.8 million boxes while the Wenatchee district estimates an additional
39 million boxes.

The Yakima figure is almost 7 million boxes larger than the August estimate. The Wenatchee crop grew by much less, adding nearly 740,000 boxes to its earlier estimate.

Red Delicious, the industry standard bearer for years, remains the most prevalent variety at 32.8 million boxes. The Gala variety is second in volume (20 million); followed by Granny Smith (15.5 million); Fuji (14.4 million); and Golden Delicious (13.9 million).

* David Lester can be reached at 577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.

Recent crop sizes

Washington state apple production for fresh sale in the past 8 years:

2001 -- 85 million boxes

2002 -- 89 million boxes

2003 -- 80 million boxes

2004 -- 105 million boxes

2005 -- 101 million boxes

2006 -- 99 million boxes

2007 -- 98 million boxes

2008 -- 109 million boxes (estimated)