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CapitalPress.com
July 1, 2016
Big apple states expecting larger crops
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
This fall’s U.S. apple crop
may be 8 percent larger than
2015, which industry leaders
hope is a small enough gain to
maintain strong prices.
Total U.S. fresh and pro-
cessed production was estimat-
ed at 263 million, 42-pound
boxes at the Premier Apple
Cooperative meeting in Syra-
cuse, N.Y., on June 28.
That’s 3 percent more than
the ive-year average, 11 per-
cent less than the large 272.2
million box 2014 crop and less
than the record 277.3 million
in 1998.
“The estimate is based
upon conditions as of June 27
and assumes normal growing
conditions to fall harvest,”
said Mark Seetin, director of
regulatory and industry affairs
of the U.S. Apple Association,
Vienna, Va.
If the estimate holds, the
crop will be the ifth largest in
U.S. history, he said.
Bruce Grim, manager of
the Washington Apple Grow-
ers Marketing Association,
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Junami apples are lined up on trays ready for loading into boxes at
Zirkle Fruit Co. in Selah, Wash.
who attended the meeting,
agreed with Don Armock, a
Michigan grower, that with the
2015 crop selling out the new
crop should enjoy good prices
throughout the coming year-
long sales season.
“I’m pretty excited. It ap-
pears currency values won’t
be quite as dificult as the past
season for exports and we’re
coming off a relatively good
year in pricing of Michigan,
Washington and New York ap-
ples,” said Armock, president
of Riveridge Produce in Spar-
ta, Mich., one of that state’s
largest apple producers.
Even apples for processing
into juice, sauce and baked
ingredients have been getting
good prices the last six months,
he said, adding that it’s always
better to start a new fall season
from strong than weak pricing.
“We had excellent spring-
time weather. No frost and ex-
cellent post-bloom weather,”
Grim said of the Washington
crop.
Bloom was quick, chemical
thinners had good opportunity
to thin the crop, cell division
was good and fruit should size
well, he said.
Fruit size is the wild card
with each size adding 10 per-
cent to crop volume, which is
a lot more for Washington than
New York or Michigan, Grim
said.
Barring excessive heat,
hail or other bad weather, the
crop should be good quality,
he said.
Of the 263 million-box U.S.
total, Washington is estimated
at 168 million, up 10.7 per-
cent from 2015. Of that, 135
million will be fresh and 33
million will be processed. The
Washington industry focuses
on the fresh crop number while
other states talk total numbers
of fresh and processed. Wash-
ington is inishing sales of a
115 million-box 2015 fresh
crop.
The fresh and processed es-
timate of the top producers in
millions of boxes: New York,
29, up 9.7 percent; Michigan,
28.5, up 16.5; Pennsylvania,
10, down 25; California, 5,
down 4.8; and Virginia, 3.8,
down 31.6.
Oregon is 3 million, up
12.7 percent and Idaho is 1.5
million, up 11.1 percent.
The Michigan crop was
estimated smaller, 26.3 mil-
lion boxes, a week earlier at
the Michigan Frozen Food
Packers Association 61st an-
nual Fruit Crop Guesstimate in
Grand Rapids.
The Washington State Tree
Fruit Association will forecast
the Washington crop in ear-
ly August and the U.S. Apple
Association 2016 Apple Crop
Outlook and Marketing Con-
ference is set for Chicago,
Aug. 25 and 26.
Armock said he thinks
the Michigan crop will end
up closer to 30 million box-
es because it should size up
well from heavy king bloom.
He said while the southwest
portion of the state is down
30 percent due to poor polli-
nation weather, it only makes
up 10 percent of the crop.
The unknown, he said, is how
much the west-central region
will produce. Growers there
are continuing high-densi-
ty, replacement plantings for
yields of 75 to 80 bins per
acre, up from 40 to 50.
“We’re trying to keep up
with the times with greater
varietal mix and our bins per
acre needs to increase,” Ar-
mock said.
The guesstimate is for 4.8
million boxes of Red Deli-
cious followed by 4.7 mil-
lion boxes of Gala and then
dropping back to 2.4 million
Ida Red, 1.9 million Golden
Delicious, 1.7 million Jona-
than, 1.6 million McIntosh
and 1.4 million Honeycrisp
followed by others.
New plantings are large-
ly Honeycrisp, Gala and
Fuji while Ida Red, Rome,
Jonathan and Empire are go-
ing down fast, Armock said.
Red Delicious is fading but
still strong and Goldens are
staying even, he said.
Movement is toward
fresh away from processor
varieties for better returns
but replanting is limited by
rootstock, scion wood and
capital availability, he said.
Michigan’s harvest starts
at the end of August with
Paula Red and Gingergold.
The Michigan Gala and
Honeycrisp harvest will
start in early September, a
month behind Washington.
Washington Ecology to write
guide to ‘best’ ag practices
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Antonio Sanchez picks blueberries in East Wenatchee, Wash., June 27. He’s use to other fruit but it
was his irst day picking blueberries. He was fairly quick within three hours. The berries go to local and
Seattle fruit stands.
Washington leads again in blueberries
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
EAST
WENATCHEE,
Wash. — Antonio Sanchez
said it was his irst day picking
blueberries but one wouldn’t
have known watching him.
He was natural and fast,
just three hours into the job.
Sanchez and a few others
were picking at 8 a.m. June
27 in an East Wenatchee ield
owned by Wenatchee’s River
of Life Foursquare Church.
The berries are sold at fruit
stands and farmers’ markets lo-
cally and in Seattle, said Eliz-
abeth Navarrete, the church’s
ield manager.
In its third season, the
ield will produce about 6,000
pounds in June and July, she
said.
It is just one of many newer
blueberry ields in the state.
Washington will lead the
nation again this year in blue-
berry production, having sur-
passed Georgia for that dis-
tinction last year.
Washington was forecast at
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Elizabeth Navarrete, blueber-
ry ield manager for River of
Life Foursquare Church, ills
15-pound boxes with berries.
The ield will generate about
6,000 pounds this season.
118 million pounds for 2016
at the Michigan Frozen Food
Packers Association’s 61st an-
nual Fruit Crop Guesstimate in
Grand Rapids, June 22. That’s
up from an actual harvest of
110 million pounds in 2015.
Michigan is estimated at
101 million pounds, up from 73
million, and followed by Ore-
gon at 100 million pounds, up
from 95 million.
Other 2016 blueberry esti-
mates in millions of pounds:
British Columbia, 170; Cali-
fornia, 70; Georgia, 67; North
Carolina, 45; New Jersey, 45;
Florida, 13.5; Mississippi, 6.5;
and Indiana, 2.5.
The national blueberry esti-
mate, including British Colum-
bia, is 738.5 million pounds, up
from 632 million in 2015.
Alan Schreiber, adminis-
trator of the Washington State
Blueberry Commission in Pas-
co, could not be reached for
comment. A year ago, he said
demand is stunningly high
and stored stock was virtually
all sold. About 70 percent of
Washington’s blueberries are
processed into dried and juice
concentrate versus being sold
fresh.
Consumer awareness of
health beneits of blueberries
is driving demand, Schreiber
said last year. Blueberries are a
good source of dietary iber and
vitamin C and are high in anti-
oxidants which protect against
cancer, heart disease and other
age-related diseases.
Washington has grown in
production more than other
states because it has less pest
pressure, high yields and good
growers, Schreiber said.
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The Washington Depart-
ment of Ecology will develop
voluntary “best management
practices” for agricultural ac-
tivities, responding to what
federal regulators say is a
shortcoming in the state’s
plan to protect waterways.
The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency last year de-
manded Ecology undertake
the initiative to continue to
qualify for federal funding for
water-quality projects.
The EPA, along with con-
servation groups and tribes,
accused the state of being too
vague about how it will pre-
vent pollution from agricul-
ture.
In response, Ecology has
hired a Seattle consultant,
Ross Strategic, to interview
farmers and ranchers to begin
identifying ways to prevent
pollution.
Ecology oficials say they
plan to spend several months
contacting interested parties
and likely won’t get down to
actually writing what they are
calling a technical guide until
early next year.
The oficials say the prac-
tices described in the guide
won’t be mandatory, but fol-
lowing them would shield
producers from being ined for
an event that caused pollution.
That is the beneit the produc-
er would receive for using
the guidance, according to an
agency spokeswoman.
Ecology started the process
with a June 20 letter to pro-
ducer groups, environmental
organizations, tribes and other
government agencies.
“Our ultimate goal is to
develop implementable, sci-
entiically based guidance that
the agriculture industry will
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Workers harvest cucumbers at a farm in southwestern Washing-
ton. The state Department of Ecology plans to develop a guide to
“best management practices” for agriculture at the direction of the
Environmental Protection Agency.
embrace and is beneicial for
healthy farms and clean water,”
Ecology water quality pro-
gram manager Heather Bartlett
wrote.
Cattle Producers of Wash-
ington Vice President Scott
Nielsen said he had no ob-
jections to Ecology’s plans,
though he said he was con-
cerned that the guidance
could eventually turn into a
mandate.
“At the end of the day, if
you’re not following their best
management practices, are you
in violation? I think that’s the
fear,” said Nielsen, a Stevens
County rancher.
Ecology’s special assistant
on water quality, Kelly Suse-
wind, said the agency does not
intend to use the best manage-
ment practices as a new set of
rules.
The guide will make clear
the farming practices that Ecol-
ogy considers effective in pre-
venting pollution, he said. “The
regulation will stay the same,
which is, you can’t pollute,” he
said.
Washington Cattlemen’s
Association Executive Vice
President Jack Field said he
hopes producers can inlu-
ence Ecology to adopt lexible
guidelines.
“Am I a little nervous? Ab-
solutely,” he said. “There’s a lot
of reasons to be concerned, but
we can’t be in a situation where
we can’t engage.”
Washington Farm Bureau’s
irst vice president, Aaron Goll-
aday, co-chairs Ecology’s Agri-
culture and Water Quality Ad-
visory Committee, along with
Ecology Director Maia Bellon.
He said he suspects there
will be a push for mandatory
buffers.
“Every time we turn around,
the end game is the same,” he
said. “Big, dumb buffers.”
The EPA last year identi-
ied the lack of best manage-
ment practices for agriculture
as a “gap” in the state’s plan to
control pollution from farms,
streets, timberlands and other
sources.
In written comments on
the plan, the federal agency
demanded Ecology “identify
mechanisms the state will use
to implement those BMPs.”
An EPA spokeswoman
said the agency gives states
the option of making best
management practices volun-
tary or mandatory.
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