Experts see 'normal' apple harvest, marketing season

QUINCY - A little more than half of apple harvest 2013 is complete, and growers already know it's not going to be as good a year as 2012. But that's because 2012 was so good.

Dan Kelly, of the Washington Growers Clearinghouse, said 2012 is going to be one of those years that fruit producers use to date things. "'Remember the 2012 crop?' That's what it's going to be down the road," he said.

Not that the 2013 crop - or the returns to the grower - are all that bad. It's just closer to the average.

"Nothing stellar, nothing tragic," Mike Robinson, general manager for Double Diamond Fruit in Quincy, said. "Last year was a stellar year. This year is an OK year,"

Washington will produce about 120 million boxes of apples in 2013. "That's a rough figure," Kelly said. That compares to about 129 million boxes in 2012 and 109 million boxes in 2011, he said.

The 2012 crop benefited from unusual market conditions, Kelly said. Bad weather took out the crop in Michigan and New York, the second and third largest apple producers in the U.S. Bad weather also damaged the 2012 crop in China, Kelly said. China is the world's largest producer. "We were the only ones in the whole world who were up (had a larger crop than the previous year)," he said.

"We were the only girl on the dance floor," Chelan Fresh Marketing Director Mac Riggan said, which sells apples for producers throughout the state. "Now there are other girls on the dance floor." Currently prices are trending downward, but they were starting from a better price than 2012, he said.

"It's back to a normal market as far as what's available out there," Kelly said. Still, a normal market will provide returns for growers, if people refrain from selling just to sell, Tim Smith, tree fruit specialist with WSU-Chelan County Extension, said.

"I hope that everyone will maintain their composure," Smith said. Retailers have learned they can make money at price levels that also make money for growers, he said. "They (retailers) might not want (apples) for free unless we offer them for free," he said.

"Retailers make money on our apples," Riggan said.

The crop is smaller than 2012 and the fruit is bigger, Robinson said. Hail was a recurring problem around the state, and that damaged some fruit, Smith said. But damage depended on location, Robinson said; Royal City suffered some hail damage while Quincy orchards escaped.

The fruit that's getting in the bin is good quality, Robinson said. But then there's nothing unusual about that, Smith said. "Quality is always good."

Harvest is about a week ahead of the average for mid-October, Kelly said. Rain has caused some delays, he said, but "the number one issue is labor."

A labor shortage "is pretty much ubiquitous across the tree fruit industry this year. And rain," Smith said. "They (growers) are kind of keeping up, but it's a struggle."

"Some areas, they're barely getting by, and other areas - I don't know what they're doing," Kelly said. "Labor has just been a challenge."

The Columbia Basin, being in the middle of the region, has escaped some of the worst of the labor shortages, Kelly said. "The majority of growers would take some more labor if it was available," Smith said.

"One of the misconceptions the public has is that apple picking is not a skill," Smith said. A picker needs experience for a maximum return, "and that experience is hard-won. You're going to go through some tough days of work before you get good at it."

The Red Delicious variety accounts for the biggest share of apples produced in the state, Kelly said. Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp varieties account for 90 percent of the state's production, he said.