Concord grape prices remain low in US

Concord grapes continue on a downward trend as they enter their third year of low prices. Industry experts expect farmers to continue removing acreage as they try to push demand and prices higher. However, experts suggest that farmers shouldn't make improvements anytime soon.

“There are trends that are looking like things will start to slowly pick up, but it’s not going to be a quick correction going into next year,” consultant Trent Ball said at the annual meeting of the Washington Grape Society in mid-November in Grandview, Washington.

Productivity-wise, growers all over the country had it pretty good. In Washington, above-average yields left growers expecting to harvest 194,000 tons this year, Ball said. Production of Concord is expected to be high but just below the 10-year average. Washington is the nation’s leading Concord juice grape producer, representing about 42 percent of U.S. production.

Other U.S. growing regions — Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania — also expect large crops, putting the nation’s tonnage at about 461,000 tons, the fourth largest in the past 12 years.

In 2016, cash prices for Washington growers inched up from $110 to $120 per ton, though they remain in a downward cycle, far below the 2012 spike of $280, Ball said.

source: goodfruit.com