Michigan apple growers are gearing up for another productive year, though volume may be slightly lower than 2023.
The Great Lakes State, aka the Wolverine State, produced nearly 32 million bushels — or 1.34 billion pounds — of apples in 2023, according to the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service.
The official crop estimate for this year will be announced at the USApple Outlook conference in Chicago on Aug. 16, however, Diane Smith, executive director of the Lansing-based Michigan Apple Committee, said it looks like the state’s growers will have another good-sized crop, “but it likely won’t reach 30 million bushels.”
The harvest will start early this year, around Aug. 1, and continue until Halloween.
Belding, Mich.-based BelleHarvest Sales Inc. will kick off its season about 10 days ahead of last year with early varieties like paula reds and golden delicious, said Nick Teriaca, vice president of sales and marketing. Picking will start the first week of August, and shipping will get underway the following week.
“It was an extremely warm spring, and the trees woke up a little bit earlier this year,” Teriaca said.
BelleHarvest expects to have a slightly larger crop than last year on most of its 15 varieties, he said.
The harvest at North Bay Produce, Traverse City, Mich., started up to two weeks earlier than usual because of warm weather and more rain than normal, said Ken Korson, apple and asparagus category manager.
“The crop is looking good with good color and quality, but volume might be down slightly this year compared to 2023,” he said.
North Bay ships 18 varieties of apples with gala, Honeycrisp, red delicious, fuji and mcintosh, among the most popular. EverCrisp, the last variety to be picked, is an up-and-coming variety, Korson said.
The harvest usually continues into mid-October, but likely will finish around the first of the month because of the earlier start, he said.
Projected start date for this year’s apple harvest at Riveridge Produce Marketing Inc., Sparta, Mich., is Aug 9, said Trish Taylor, marketing manager.
Volume should be about the same as last year, she said.
“We had a mild winter and an early spring that has led to harvest being about 10 days early,” Taylor said. “Summer had ample rain, and there were very isolated areas with hail, so all in all, the state crop is very clean.”
Quality looks good, and Riveridge will have a standard range of sizes on its Honeycrisp, gala, fuji and other varieties, she said. EverCrisp and ambrosia are gaining momentum, and younger plantings of higher-colored strains of Honeycrisp and gala are coming into production at Riveridge, she added.
Inflation impact
Michigan apple growers continue their fight against inflation and rising costs.
“It’s been a challenging year, to say the least,” said Teriaca of BelleHarvest.
Fob prices are down but production is up, he said. “We’re packing more boxes, but they’re not worth as much.”
Apples remain a good value for consumers, said Korson of North Bay Produce.
Grower margins have come down, but the price of a bag of apples in the supermarket remains about the same, he said.
“We have to make them affordable enough to make people buy them year-round,” he said.
Consumers continue to buy apples because “they offer a great nutrient punch for the dollar,” added Taylor of Riveridge.
“We do see some trading down from more premium priced apples to the standby everyday value varieties,” she said.
