Here is a look a new season shipments for New York and California apples, plus some other loading opportunities in both of these states.
New York Apple Shipments
New York state’s apple harvest is scheduled to begin August 15th, with shipments getting underway shortly thereafter. The Empire State expects to ship about 30 million bushels of fruit this season, down only slightly from the 32 million bushels shipped during the 2013-14 season. However, total volume is still expected to stay above the state’s five-year averages of 29.5 million bushels. Although the apple harvest should end in November, loading opportunities will continue well into next spring, if not summer. The Hudson Valley is New York’s leading area for apple shipments, although several other areas of the state also have the fruit in significant volume.
New York vegetable shipments are moving in steady volume, especially from western and central areas of the state.
Western New York vegetables – grossing about $1600 to New York City.
California Apple Shipments
Apple shipments out of California’ San Joaquin Valley got underway a couple of weeks ago, but are only entering volume loadings now. This is one of the earliest maturing crops on record. Overall, California expects to ship about 2.4 million boxes of apples this season, which is fairly normal.
While gala shipments started in mid July, granny smiths should get underway the week of August 11th, followed by fujis around August 18th. followed by Pink Lady apples in the middle of October.
California’s San Joaquin Valley produce shipments are in good volume with everything ranging from grapes to tomatoes, stone fruit and vegetables.
San Joaquin Valley vegetables and melons – grossing about $7500 to New York City.
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From New York state to the Appalachian States and in Michigan, here is a round up of some loading opportunities.
After devastating freeze losses in 2012, New York apple shipments are enjoying a very strong comeback season, while expecting a record volume exceeding 32 million boxes. Loadings reported brisk, averaging around 250 truck loads per week. While the Hudson Valley leads apple shipments, loadings also occur from the Champlain Valley, Central and Western areas of the state. New York shippers expect a relatively normal end to its season when some companies will finish shipping in late May or June, while others will continue shipping into July.
New York also is shipping storage onions, led by Orange County, with around 150 truck loads are being shipped weekly. Additonally Western New York is shipping cabbage.
New York cabbage – grossing about $1600 to New York City.
Michigan Produce Shipments
In a similar situation to New York, the state of Michigan has made a major rebound this season with apples. It is moving similar volume compared to New York as well, averaging around 250 truck loads per week. Michigan also is shipping a moderate amount of potatoes, along with light volumes of onions. A majority of Michigan winter produce shipments originate in the Western part of the state.
Michigan apples – grossing about $3300 to Dallas.
Appalachian Apple Shipments
The apple shipping region known as the Appalachian District comprises portions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. There is light, but steady volume with apples being loading here.
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About 91 million bushels of fresh-market U.S. apples were in storage on Jan. 1. That is one percent more than last year at the same time. The January total also is eight percent higher than the five-year average for remaining apple shipments.
The nation’s biggest shipper, Washington state, accounted for about 76 million bushels of the total.
Michigan still had about 6.5 million bushels in storage and has been setting weekly volume shipping records. The estimate for total Michign apple shipments this season still remains at 30 million bushels.
New York apple shipments have 5.4 million bushels and Pennsylvania apple shipments 1.3 million bushels of apples remaining to be hauled.
January apples remaining in storage are up over last year despite holdings for several leading varieties being lower.
About 28.6 million bushels of red delicious were in storage, down from 31 million bushels last year. Fuji holdings fell from 14.9 million to 9.7 million bushels, golden delicious from 9.9 million to 8.7 million bushels and cripps pink from 2.9 million to 2.8 million bushels.
Gala holdings increased from 15.1 million to 15.6 million bushels and granny smith holdings from 9.2 million to 11.4 million bushels.
Much higher volumes of mcintoshes, empires and other traditionally Midwestern and Eastern varieties had yet to be shipped as of Jan. 1 compared to last year at the same time, as Michigan, New York and other states east of the Mississippi continue to bounce back from devastating 2012 freezes.
Washington state apples grossing – about $4600 to Clevelnd.
Michigan apples – about $2200 to Atlanta.
New York state apples – about $1900 to Orlando.
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Here’s a round up of big-time apple shipments from New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and the leader — Washington State.
New York
This year’s expected record-breaking apple crop has left many New York growers with fruit still on the trees and not enough storage space after the harvest. Still, there should be record loading opportunities for apple haulers this season.
The bountiful 2013 growing season left many growers without enough workers to harvest the apples, not enough bins to place them in and not enough cold-storage capacity. Last summer, New York apple shipments were estimated at a record-setting 32 million bushels, nearly double last year’s harvest that was devasted by freezing weather. That figure for this season could even be low. Some observers see New York apple shipments topping 34 million bushels when all the figures are final.
New York apples – grossing about $2000 to Atlanta.
Pennyslvania
But New York isn’t alone when it comes to record apple shipments this year. In Pennsyvlania, one of the largest operations, Rice Fruit Co. in Gardners, is reporting number setting volume with its apple shipments. Pennsylvania apple shipments should continue through July, until the new crop is harvested starting in August.
Michigan Apple Shipments
Looking at Michigan, its biggest apple shipper, Riverridge Produce Inc. in Sparta is reported record setting loadings. The state should have record volume by the end of the season next summer.
Michigan apples – grossing about $3000 to New York City.
Washington State Apple Shipments
Finally, in Washington state, which ships as many apples as the rest of the states combined, should move about 110 million boxes of fruit this season. That’s down about 9 million boxes from original estimates, but it will still be one of the biggest apple crops on record.
Washington state apples – grossing about $5400 to Dallas.
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Here’s a round up of California produce loads, as well as loadings from Michigan, New York state and border crossings from Mexico.
California Navel orange shipments should hit about 88 million cartons for the season, down only two percent from a year ago.
Harvest has been underway about a month, with light shipments having started a couple of weeks ago from the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.
Mandarin orange and clementine volume should be up a little mostly because of young acreage coming into fuller production.
Lemon loadings from California’s Imperial Valley and from Arizona should be up slightly this seaons.
The California desert, as well as the Yuma area in Arizona have light volume loadings of cantaloupe and honeydew. Lettuce shipments are still several weeks away.
In South Texas, watermelon shipments are winding down, but melons from Mexico are just starting and will be crossing the U.S. border , not only in Texas, but at Nogales, AZ, until next May.
Michigan Produce Shipments
The Wolverine state has light volume loadings of carrots, celery and onions, with better volume for apples, the later amounting to around 250 truck loads per week.
New York Apple Shipments
New York is a big state and apple loadings originate in Eastern areas, primarily from the Hudson Valley and near the western shores of Lake Champlain. Further west in New York, the primary shipping areas for apples are Utica, Ithica, Syracuse and Rochester. Apple shipments from the state are similar in volume to Michigan’s 250 trucks per week.
San Joaquin Valley produce – grossing about $6500 to New York City.
Hudson Valley apples – about $3200 to Orlando.
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Fishers, N.Y. – New York apple shipments are now officially underway across the Empire State, from the lower Hudson Valley to the upper Champlain Valley – and growers are harvesting a vintage crop, New York Apple Association (NYAA) reports.
The state’s nearly 700 apple growers are now expected to pick about 32 million bushels by the time harvest concludes in November, a modern record. New York’s average production is 29.5 million bushels.
Excellent weather conditions – beginning during this year’s bloom and growing season, and continuing into harvest so far – mean that this year’s fruit will be large and juicy, with high natural sugars. Meanwhile, recent new plantings mean that consumers will find more of the New York state apple varieties that they love.
“This year’s apple harvest is on time, and is now in full swing across New York state,” said NYAA President Jim Allen. “Our consumers who have been waiting for us to get back into the market after last year’s short crop will have lots to celebrate this fall.”
Harvest of New York’s top variety McIntosh is now underway in the Eastern part of the state and will soon be harvesting statewide, Allen reported. Harvest of all other varieties, including consumer favorites including Zestar, Gala and HoneyCrisp, is underway across the state.
“We didn’t just recover from last year, we’ve roared back and more,” said Allen. Devastated by frosts that killed much of last year’s fruit in the bud, the state’s 2012 crop was 17.1 million bushels per U.S. Department of Agriculture.
To promote this year’s crop, NYAA has enlisted New York native and international soccer star Abby Wambach. In July, Wambach assumed the title of women’s world record holder for career goals scored. Television and radio commercials featuring Abby are airing now; she will also be featured in in-store signage starting later this fall.
“We want to score the soccer mom vote,” said NYAA’s Allen.
View the Wambach and “Blossom to Awesome” videos on NYAA’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/newyorkapples1.
About New York Apple Association, Inc.
A nonprofit agricultural trade association based in Fishers, N.Y., NYAA represents the state’s commercial apple growers. The grower-funded association supports profitable growing and marketing of New York apples through increasing demand for apples and apple products, representing the industry at state and federal levels, and serving as the primary information source on New York apple-related matters. For more information, visit www.nyapplecountry.com.
Source: New York Apple Association, Inc.
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While plenty of apples continue to be shipped from the 2012-13 season out of Washington state, the new crop will start heading to market, mostly by truck, in less than two months!
Estimates of apple shipments each pre-season tend to be conservative, so it wouldn’t surprise me if we ended up having record loadings, as happened for the 2012-13 season.
The nation’s leading shipper of apples, Washington state, will have fewer loads this coming season, but there will still be plenty of fruit for hauling – even from there.
An estimated 251 million bushels of fresh-market and processed-market apples are expected to be shipped in the new season, up from 215 million for the 2012-13 crop, according to estimates.
About 67% of U.S. apples typically go to the fresh market, according to the Vienna, Va.-based U.S. Apple Association.
While production in industry leader Washington is expected to fall, from 154 million to 148 million bushels, big gains in Michigan and New York, which were devastated by freezes in the spring of 2012, should result in even more apple loads than last season!
An estimated 26.3 million bushels of apples could ship from Michigan in the 2013-14 season, up from 2.7 million bushels this season.
New York production is expected to jump from 16.9 million to 34 million bushels.
Pennsylvania’s apple volumes are projected to fall from 11.7 million to 10.5 million bushels.
The 26.3 million bushel total in Michigan would be the largest since 2009, when about 27.4 million bushels shipped from the Wolverine State.
Washington state pretty much has a lock on apple shipments right now – grossing about $4300 to Chicago, around $6500 to New York City.
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While plenty of apples continue to be shipped from the 2012-13 season out of Washington state, the new crop will start heading to market, mostly by truck, in less than two months!