by Pear Bureau Northwest
PORTLAND, Ore. – Pear growers and producers from Washington’s Wenatchee and Yakima districts and Oregon’s Mid-Columbia and Medford districts estimated this year’s fresh pear harvest at 18.9 million standard box equivalents, or approximately 415,000 tons of fresh pear shipments.
The estimate will mark an 18 percent increase from the 2017 harvest – an unusually small crop – and will be equal to the five-year average.
Pick dates for the coming harvest are projected to be roughly a week earlier than last season, staying close to the historical average. Starkrimson are expected to be picked in early August, with the Bartlett harvest expected in mid-August. Anjou is expected to happen in late August in all districts while Bosc and Comice varieties will be harvested beginning in September and span through early October. Finally, Concorde, Forelle and Seckel will be picked in September and October across the four growing districts.
Out of the leading varieties, the estimates for this season are 9.3 million standard boxes for Green Anjou (about 49.6 percent of total Northwest fresh pear crop), 4.6 million standard boxes of Bartlett (24 percent of the total crop), and 3.2 million Bosc (16 percent of the total crop). Red Anjou will represent 5.6 percent of the crop with a potential 1.1 million standard boxes.
The Green Anjou crop is showing a projected increase of 10 percent compared to the smaller crop in 2017, but down 5 percent from a five-year average. Growers estimate that the Bartlett pear crop will be up 24 percent compared to last season, marking a 5 percent increase over a five-year average. The Bosc crop is estimated to be 42 percent higher than last season’s small crop and 8 percent above the five-year average, while Red Anjou production is expected to be 7 percent higher than last year and 5 percent above the five-year average.
The organic pear estimate is expected to come in at 1.64 million standard boxes (36,000 metric tons), which is 8.7 percent of the total Northwest crop. Newly transitioned orchards and a strong pear crop overall have contributed to the growth in organic pears. Out of the entire organic crop, growers project 583,500 standard boxes of Green Anjou, with the Bartlett and Bosc crops sizes projected at 564,700 and 321,050 standard boxes, respectively.
Washington apples and stone fruit – grossing about $7700 to New York City.