On Tuesday of this week, the forecast for the 2024 Washington state fresh apple crop was released and the state is estimated to harvest 124 million boxes of apples this upcoming season. "This number tracks much closer to the five-year average compared to production volumes of the past two years," says Dan Davis with Washington Fruit Growers (WFG). He refers to the smaller crop in 2022 and the rebound crop of 136 million boxes in 2023. "The 2024 forecast is more reasonable and we are hoping it will result in a more normal season where we don't have to push so hard to move the crop at very low prices."
2024 Gala crop.
Organic sold as conventional
The past season has been tough for Washington apple growers, especially growers of organic apples. In recent years, many of WFG's growers transitioned from conventional to organic but due to the supply-exceeds-demand situation, a significant share of organic apples was packed and sold as conventional this past season. All the efforts growers have put into transitioning to organic and the extra costs they incur on an annual basis resulted in a difficult year. "We are hoping for the situation to improve this upcoming season and for consumers to gravitate to organics again. We would like to see the organic growth trend from the last few years resume and see prices recover," Davis shared.
July heat
While the 2024 growing season was fairly typical, the state of Washington had to endure a significant amount of heat in July. "Although minimal, we are expecting some impact on the fruit sizing of earlier varieties like Gala," said Davis. These early varieties don't have as many days to recover from the heat as Fuji or Pink Lady that have an additional 60 days on the tree. As a result, some of the earlier varieties could trend about half a size smaller compared to last year. The 2024 harvest has started in small ways. Earlier varieties like Gala are being picked now and the state's harvest will continue through September and October before it winds down in November.
Pear crop down
For pears on the other hand, it is a different story. The Pacific Northwest pear crop is expected to be down significantly from last year. The crop suffered heavy losses from a freeze that hit the state's most northern growing districts prior to bloom. As a result, the statewide pear crop is estimated to be down 40 to 50 percent this upcoming season. WGF's pear growers are located in the southern part of the state where the crop didn't get impacted by the freeze as much. "We feel very fortunate as our pear volume is expected to be down about 10 percent from the five-year average," commented Davis.
Harvest of Bartlett pears has started, and other summer varieties will start in the next two weeks. Right now, California is in peak harvest and Washington will pull right behind with September being the peak month for harvest. Due to low volume, demand is expected to outpace supply this season. "It will be a delicate balance to keep our retail customers covered with enough supply while simultaneously keeping pears at a retail price point where consumers continue to buy them."
For more information:
Dan Davis
Washington Fruit Growers
Tel: (+1) 509.961.1919
[email protected]
www.washfruitgrowers.com