"Netherlands: "Influence of frost on apple harvest not clear until beginning of May"

It was very cold in February and the temperatures in the Noordoostpolder reached minus 20. The influence of this on the topfruit cultivation isn't clear for everyone yet. According to a trader it's hard to say. "The impact on pears is clearer than with apples. We know that the pear harvest will be lower, but with apples that won't be visible until the blooming period in the beginning of May. We can see that the start of the fruit is brown, but this doesn't mean anything. The situation is partially comparable to the frost period in 2005. It bloomed well, but the apples fell off later. It's guesswork for the apples. It will be seen in about 6 weeks." Influence

The trader indicates that the topfruit area is decreasing. "The yields on the other hand, are increasing. The trees are producing more volumes than they used to. You used to have a harvest of 30 tonnes per acre and that's increased to 70/80 tonnes per acre now."

"The atmosphere in the topfruit market at the moment is still moderate. There always seems to be something wrong with the quality", he says. "It looks precarious for the growers and with high yields the saying 'no disaster is the biggest disaster' might become true."