A new season of Dutch apples and pears starts again this week. Under favourable weather conditions, a team of more than 400 seasonal workers is again working hard in Staay Food Group's orchards to bring in the harvest. On the 135 hectares of the new Staay site 'Westende' in Fijnaart, Noord-Brabant, the lion's share of the pears have already been harvested.
"The national apple yield is only 1% less this year, but last year's harvest was also 18% less than the year before. Fortunately, last year's small crop of Elstar has been corrected somewhat with a +10% higher yield. Junami (less acreage), Wellant (down year) and Golden Delicious (less acreage) are the big decreases among apples," said Staay Food Group. "Among pears, we see a 9% decline nationwide compared to a reasonable average crop year in 2023. Conference also stands out positively with a smaller 6% decline. A big decrease is seen in the Doyenne du Comice with over 45% decline due to hail damage and the fact that this year is a rotation year."
Arming against climate change
More and more extreme weather is increasingly affecting crops. Both Staay growing locations and affiliated growers, are investing in development of new, robust varieties. In addition, protection by hail nets is being worked on. Research is also being done on solar panels above the crop which, besides providing green power, also offer protection against bright sunlight, strong winds, frost and precipitation.
Last growing season was again full of extremes. "2024 was a difficult growing season with many cold, dark days and also a lot of precipitation, including in the form of hail," said Eddy den Dunnen, crop coordinator at Staay location Westende. "Fortunately, we see that the plots with younger trees still deliver a good yield of coarse falling fruit in addition."
Cosmetic hail damage
Overall, Staay Food Group sees a nice supply of quality pears of a good size. However, there are also a serious number of plots in the Netherlands that have been more severely affected by the hail. To achieve the desired volumes, this year the sector cannot avoid also sorting some pears with slight cosmetic damage. These pears are top quality, but they have the occasional spot on the skin that we would normally sort out."
Red Conference
Coarse sizing
The changeable weather also had an upside. There has been a lot of natural drop-out which has allowed the remaining fruit to grow into larger sizes better. This combined with some reduced volume could start to make for a favourable market, without oversupply.
For more information:
Joop Vernooij
Staay Food Group B.V.
[email protected]
www.staa y.nl
www.redconference.nl