Ontario could see an earlier end to its harvest this season. "As a result of the heat this year, and the hot, dry September, we think the harvest will be a little bit condensed," says Chris Hedges, chair of the Ontario Apple Growers. "We may have thought that the harvest was going to start a little later. However we're finding that most of the varieties are ready now–pretty well anything that could be picked is being picked. So we may wrap up by the end of October as opposed to the first or second week of November. "
© Ontario Apple Growers
Indeed, most parts of Ontario have seen a hot and dry growing season, which in turn had growers irrigating on orchards this year where they could. "We might also be seeing a little bit smaller fruit size as a result of the heat and the drought," says Hedges. "Generally speaking though, we're pretty happy with how things are coming in so far."
Volume and varietal notes
On varieties, good volumes continue this season on Gala, Honeycrisp and Ambrosia apples, a development that's likely the result of all the planting that's occurred in those varieties in the last few years. Declining volumes are also expected on Empire, Macintosh and Red Delicious, largely as a result of transitioning those blocks of apples over to newer varieties.
© Ontario Apple Growers
As for demand, the season started strong. "A lot of other fruits, such as peaches and melons, finished a bit early as well so the market was strong, even around Labor Day when in other years, that's when movement has been slower," Hedges says. "We're hoping demand will stay the same or get better. We're continuing to see strong support on the buy local side of things so we expect we'll still see strong demand for locally grown product in Canada."
This is all leaving pricing comparable to last year or even slightly better. However there's no doubt that a large apple crop in Washington, particularly on Honeycrisp and Gala, could put downward pressure on the market in the East. "Hopefully as we move through our crop we don't get impacted too heavily by that," adds Hedges.
For more information:
Chris Hedges
Ontario Apple Growers
Tel: +1 (519) 428-4550
[email protected]
Kelly Ciceran
Ontario Apple Growers
Tel: +1 (905) 688-0990
[email protected]
www.onapples.com
