Early harvest estimate for Washington apples shows a return to normal

Overview of apples from Washington in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on August 12, 2024.

The Washington State Tree Fruit Association says its preliminary forecast for the 2024 Washington state fresh apple crop shows a return to the historical norms after two unusual years.

Following a survey of its members, the association provided the initial estimate of 124 million standard 40-pound boxes. In 2022, cool and wet weather resulted in a crop of 103.9 million, and in 2023, the crop rebounded with 136.1 million boxes.

“There is a lot of excitement as we are seeing a more normal harvest and excellent fruit quality this year,” Jon DeVaney, association president, said in a news release. “A moderate spring and a warm early summer created stable growing conditions, so our domestic and foreign customers can expect the flavor, size, color, and overall high quality that make Washington apples famous.”

The association said the moderate weather also helps the state’s organic growers, adding that organic apples make up about 16% of this year’s crop, up from 11% about five years ago. Growers in the state generate around 90% of the domestic organic apples, according to the release.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

“Our growers work hard to deliver the apples that consumers want and enjoy, and for many consumers that includes organics,” DeVaney said.

The association said gala is the top variety produced in the state at 19%, followed by granny smith (14.5%), red delicious (13%), honeycrisp (12%) and fuji (10.5%).

Cosmic Crisp, developed at Washington State University, will make up 9% of this year’s crop, according to the association. Cripps pink will be about 7% of the crop, Envy and golden delicious around 3.5% each and Ambrosia at 2%.

Apples represent about 16% — or about $2 billion — of the state’s total farm-gate agricultural value in 2022 and exports about 30% of its apples, the association said.

“Thanks to more favorable growing conditions this past year, we expect the projected harvest to be not only high in quantity but also quality,” Derek Sandison, director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, said in the release. “We are grateful to our growers for delivering a crop that is good for our state economy, our workforce, and consumers all around the world.”

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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