Antonio Leduc, vice chair of the Michigan Blueberry Advisory Committee (MBBAC) began the 62nd Annual Fruit Crop Guesstimate by discussing the impact early frost had in Michigan.
Blueberries
“The southeast was hit with a huge frost March 16 and March 17,” Leduc said. “It put a big hole in the fresh market as far as blueberry, and where Michigan is going, it looks like demand is going to exceed supply.”
Last year the Michigan blueberry industry estimated a crop of 100 million pounds and came in at about 101 million. For 2017, the estimate is at 103 million pound crop, which Leduc said was, “as of this point, a little optimistic.”
“I still think it can be done if we have good labour. It seems like labour was adequate in North Carolina and Georgia. I’m getting mixed reports on New Jersey. But if we get adequate labor in Michigan, we have the potential to reach that estimate.”
Cherries
Mollie Woods, executive director, Cherry Industry Administrative Board, said frost and cold temperatures also had an impact on Michigan tart cherries and sweet cherries.
Michigan growers are expecting a smaller crop due to freezing temperatures in early May and poor pollination conditions. West Central Michigan was hit especially hard by low temperatures. The estimate for West Central Michigan is 26 million pounds.
“The potential for a much bigger crop is there, but they were hit pretty hard by frost,” Woods said.
The industry’s total U.S. crop estimate is at 259 million pounds.
Crop estimate from Cherry Industry Administrative Board meeting on June 22, 2017.
“This is pretty much an average crop in tart cherries if you look at it over time,” Woods said. “But compared to last year, it’s not average. We processed a total of 314 million pounds last year, which was more than we had at least in the last five years.”
Apples
The apple industry is feeling optimistic about the size of this year’s crop and will be led by a potentially record-setting crop in Washington, according to Mark Seetin, director of regulatory and industry affairs at the USApple Association.
He estimates the 2017 U.S. apples crop will come in at about 256 million bushels, which is 3 percent above the 5-year average and 6 percent greater than last year.
As with cherries and blueberries, Michigan apples were damaged by frost.
“Growers felt that the frost that happened in the spring took maybe 30 to 40 percent of the apple production,” said Seetin. “That led to a consensus of the group that the estimate would be about 20 million bushels.”
Read more at fruitgrowersnews.com
