Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/146156
U.S. apple production Historical apple production and 2013 estimate (in thousands of bushels) States New York Pennsylvania Virginia North Carolina West Virginia New Jersey Maryland Vermont Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Connecticut Rhode Island TOTAL EAST USDA 2011 2012 29,048 17,143 10,905 11,762 5,238 5,476 3,333 798 1,595 2,167 857 833 952 833 798 607 690 714 917 667 429 369 524 393 60 40 55,345 41,802 Estimate* 2013 32,000 10,600 5,500 3,000 2,000 1,000 1,000 818 747 864 556 462 53 58,600 Michigan Ohio Wisconsin Indiana Illinois Missouri Minnesota Tennessee Iowa TOTAL MIDWEST 23,452 1,586 1,224 476 952 357 560 202 95 28,905 2,738 786 562 107 762 833 267 152 17 6,224 30,000 2,000 1,012 493 1,030 627 495 192 86 35,935 Washington California Oregon Idaho Utah Colorado Arizona TOTAL WEST 128,810 6,667 2,202 1,429 452 214 262 140,036 154,762 7,143 3,095 1,786 333 405 190 167,714 148,000 4,000 2,817 1,548 357 352 283 157,357 TOTAL U.S. 224,286 215,740 251,892 *Figures from Premier Apple Cooperative, New York to adapt to that volume. We're not going to push 20 million (more) boxes through Safeway, Kroger, or Costco. It's going to have to go to Indonesia and China," he said. Seetin of USApple said the decision by the European Union to greatly reduce the residue tolerance of diphenylamine (DPA) would likely lead U.S. shippers to abandon the market. But while that will have an effect on some shippers in New York State that sold Empire apples to the United Kingdom, overall the European market for U.S. apples was small. "Exports are growing at a record pace again this year," Seetin said. "With two months remaining in the marketing year, exports had already matched last year's record, so this will be a new record." Exports last year were 44 million bushels. "We already do pretty well in export markets," said Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee. "But the potential for expansion is there." Michigan's exported apples go south, not east to Europe. Central America is a key market, although not many apples go to Mexico. Some go to the Caribbean countries and to Colombia. A couple of big events in Brazil—the World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016—provide great potential for building apple sales, she said. The Central American markets take smaller apples and Michigan packers are trying to capitalize on that. • www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER AUGUST 2013 7