Originally published by the Seattle Times, 11/22/2023
Photo caption/credit: It has been a good year to grow apples, writes the author, and the five most popular apples remain Gala (pictured in Wapato), Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji and Honeycrisp. (Amanda Ray / Yakima Herald-Republic, 2020)
As the apple harvest in Washington comes to a close, growers have much to be thankful for.
Nearly perfect weather in the spring, summer and fall resulted in a robust harvest of fruit with excellent size, color and flavor. This follows two seasons where growers were challenged by above-normal temperatures, smoke and a late, wet spring that kept pollinators from going about their important work.
This year’s harvest was also a strong indicator of consumer preferences. The five most popular apples remain Gala, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji and Honeycrisp, but new varietals, like Ambrosia, Envy and Cosmic Crisp, are gaining popularity. There was also growth in the organic apple harvest, which now represents nearly 20% of the entire harvest. It has been a good year to grow apples.
In this year of abundance, Washington growers can also be grateful for the reopening of a large foreign market for our apples. Early in the year, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, and U.S. Reps. Kim Schrier and Dan Newhouse helped bring about an agreement with India to remove the retaliatory tariffs on apples in place since 2018.
This was welcome news indeed. The largest country in the world by population, India’s growing middle class is an important market for apples. With 1.4 billion people, India needs to import food to meet the needs of its population.
Already, more Washington apples are returning to India. In fact, through the end of October, 201,348 boxes of apples were shipped to India this year. Compare that to the 3,087 boxes in the same period last year; that is a 6,422% increase.
Jared England is the General Manager of the Manson Growers Co-op
