Here’s an update on projected shipments of Washington apples, as well as a glimpse at Asian pear loadings out of California.
Washington state apple shipments are forecast to be their third largest on record. Loadings totaling 125.2 million 40-pound boxes of fresh apples are expected to be shipped. While this would be down approximately 10.5 percent from the 2014 record crop of 140 million boxes, it is just behind the state’s second-largest season of 128.3 million boxes shipped during the 2012-13 season.
Red Delicious remains the variety with the most shipments, representing a projected 25 percent of the crop. Gala is close behind at 23 percent, followed by Fuji at 13.7 percent and Granny Smith at 13 percent. This season, Honeycrisp is forecast to come in at 7 percent of the total crop, which would move it past Golden Delicious to become the fifth-ranked variety by production volume in Washington state.
The harvest started at the beginning of August for early varieties. Production typically peaks in September and October, finishing in November.
Yakima Valley apple shipments – grossing about $6000 to Orlando.
California Asian Pear Shipments
There has been a good transition from the Chilean season that is winding down to the California Asian pears in the second half of August. Shipments will continue into at least January, with similar volumes to last year out of the San Joaquin Valley.