Apple Forecast 2019 Pt 1

Apple Forecast 2019 Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. The forecast for this year's fresh apple crop is out and things are looking very good.

The Washington State Tree Fruit Association's Tim Kovis says the numbers are from their annual survey of its membership about what they think the size of the crop will be ...

KOVIS ... "This year, our members estimated that we're going to be looking at 137.3-million boxes of fresh apples in the crop, which is about 18% higher than we had in last year's crop."

Kovis says in spite of the weird weather we had this year, things are looking great ...

KOVIS ... "We've actually experienced a very ideal growing season and they're seeing that the apple trees are producing quality fruit with good size and coloring and they believe it will also store very well so it can be sold throughout the year."

But, above all, Kovis says consumers should have plenty of great choices this year...

KOVIS ... "We're just looking forward to an excellent 2019-2020 crop for consumers and encourage folks to try different varieties that they see in the store. Our growers are growing, you know, a lot more varieties than they were 15 or 20 years ago when reds were 50% of the variety grown in the state, so we always encourage people to try new and different apples that they see in the grocery store."

Tune in tomorrow for more on this year's Washington apple crop and which varieties are leading the pack and new ones to look out for.

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