Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/590163
28 NOVEMBER 2015 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com A s Washington State produces larger and larger volumes of both conventional and organic apples, producers are likely to look to global markets to take additional supplies. David Granatstein, Washington State University sus- tainable agriculture specialist, and organic consultant Harold Ostenson recently attended a conference on integrated and organic horticulture in France. As part of the trip, they visited apple-growing regions in Poland, Germany, and Switzerland, as well as France, where they learned more about Washington's potential competitors in Europe and their ability to compete globally in the conventional and organic apple markets. Granatstein and Ostenson discussed their findings in an interview with Good Fruit Grower. Washington's certified organic fresh apple ship- ments—estimated at almost 10 million boxes for the 2015-16 season, could double by 2020, based on esti- mates of new orchard land becoming certified. Interest in organic has been heightened by the significant pre- miums growers have received. For example, the average f.o.b. price for organic Gala for the 2014-15 season was $40 a box, exactly double the conventional price. Poland Poland is the largest apple producing country in Europe. This year's total crop is estimated at 3.75 million metric tons (equivalent to 206 million bushels), about the same as last year. That's 30 percent of the total crop in the European Union. Italy is the second-largest producer with 2.3 million tons forecast this season (about the same Although Europe has extensive organic acreage, much of it is not very productive. by Geraldine Warner Centerpiece PHOTOS COURTESY DAVID GRANATSTEIN AND HAROLD OSTENSON. David Granatstein (center) and Harold Ostenson (right) visit with Peter Rolker of Rolker Fruit, an organic fruit producer in the Altes Land area of Germany. Above, the Altes Land fruit growing region has 27,000 acres of modern, high-density orchards at an elevation of just 3 feet. Washington still ORGANIC EDGE