Okanagan orchardists are wrapping up what looks to be a bumper crop for apples this season.
B.C. Fruit Growers Association president George Lucas told iNFOnews.ca: “We didn’t get the intensive heat in September and October this year. When it cools off, that helps color the apples and condition the apples, which makes sure they’re a larger size and crisper.”
If it’s too hot in the fall, as it was in 2017, the apples can actually stop growing. Smaller apples result in an overall smaller crop and lower prices. Last year, producer prices dropped from an average of about 25 to 19 cents a pound. Those lower prices have persisted into this season, but Lucas expects the prices to rise as the bigger apples start selling.
Four apple varieties make up about 80 per cent of the Okanagan’s 180 million pound apple crop. The Gala is by far the most popular at about 74 million lbs. The other three are the Ambrosia (44 million lbs.), Spartan (16 million lbs.) and MacIntosh (15 million lbs.).
