Though the main part of the apple season in Ontario is still several weeks away, growers in the region have started harvesting early varieties. Aside from some hail isolated to a small part of the region, growers have reported a growing season relatively free from disruptive weather.“I would say we've had a very good growing season,” said Charles Stevens, chair of Ontario Apple Growers. “We had a hail storm that came through, but there was very little damage, so there have been very few negatives.” Orchards that got hit with the recent hail storm suffered badly, but the affected area was very small, so damage to the overall crop is not expected to be significant. With few weather or disease pressures, growers are optimistic about achieving volumes of fruit on par with last year's crop. Early estimates for this year's crop put the volume of fruit at 7.7 million bushels, which includes apples for both the fresh and processed market.
“The main factor this year has been that the trees were not under stress,” said Stevens. “If it's too hot, the trees can't work as hard. But moisture has been almost perfect across all of Ontario this year, so most orchards are looking very good.” Early varieties of apples should be in stores by this week, and McIntosh apples are expected in stores by the second week in September. Honey Crisp apples are slated for stores the week following that, and Gala, Red Empire and Ambrosia apples are expected after that.
For more information:
Kelly Cicera
Ontario Apple Growers
+1 905 688 0990