Despite record-breaking heat in July, 2019 eastern apple shipments are shaping up to be a strong and on par with previous years.
The New York Apple Association of Fishers, NY reports Empire State farmers are expecting to ship about some 31 million bushels this fall. Although is would be off compared to last year, it would be more than some previous seasonss.
New York state apple acreage has been holding steady, with more of a focus on newer varieties, including Honeycrisp, SnapDragon, Evercrisp and SweeTango. Many farmers have been transitioning out standard-size trees in favor of dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties. This results in more trees planted per acre, yielding more fruit per acre. The trees also reach fruit-bearing age faster.
Fowler Farms of Wocott, NY packs and ships 24 varieties of apples grown on 2,500 acres lining the shores of Lake Ontario in Wayne County, NY. Its varieties include the old standards Red Delicious, McIntosh, Jersey Mac, Empire and Raeburn, along with the newer varieties like Gala.
The company grows and ships the largest amount of Honeycrispin the Northeast, as wells as with SweeTango.
Fowler Farms also grows SnapDragon, and volume has doubled each of the past three years. – particularly with loadings destined for the Southeastern U.S..
Fowler Farms has its own nurseries, grows its own trees, packs and stores its own fruit, and even makes much of the equipment it uses to work its orchards.
The company reports the Northeastern 2019 apple crop looks great and is on par to match last year’s volume, with product coming from over 70 apple growers in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and Virginia. Large increases in volume are expected with Gala, Honeycrisp and other newer varieties, including Evercrisp, RubyFrost and SnapDragon.
SweeTango is another one of the newer apple varieites on the market. The season is just kicking with SweeTango as one of the earlier premium apple varieties.