This year, apple growers in the Northwest of the US are down about 20% from the boxes they picked last year. Washington state growers picked just a bit over 100 million, 40-pound boxes, this year. That’s quite a fall from what they picked last year. Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, said a cold spring caused cell division in the tiny fruits to lag, which meant smaller ripe fruit.
Overall, Washington growers are hurting a bit, DeVaney said. Even though prices in the stores are higher – so are costs for fruit transportation, labor and inputs like fertilizer and tractor parts. Farmers need huge tanks of fuel to get apples to storages and market. They need hundreds of seasonal workers all at the same time. They need loads and loads of fertilizers. And the price of everything has gone up. Add the short crop and smaller-sized fruit – and farmers say it’s a hard year.
Source: kuow.org